Torres won’t swim 100 free

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OMAHA -– Dara Torres had been leaning against swimming in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle at the Summer Games. She made it offical today, dropping the 100 from her Beijing program.

The beneficiary of her decision was Lacey Nymeyer, who finished third in the 100 free behind Torres and Natalie Coughlin, and now moves into the second slot.

Relays became a factor in the decision. Torres was eager to participate in both the 400 freestyle relay as well as the 400 medley relay. She was facing perhaps as many as three preliminary and final swims in the 100 free, and three more in the 50 free.

That, and the relays, would have been too much, even for the ageless Torres, who is 41.

This was her first Olympic trials in eight years, and Torres became the story in Omaha, if not the United States, by winning the 100 free and 50 free, the latter in an American record time on Sunday night.

-- Lisa Dillman

ree. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press