UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

Tag : rolled bronze

So at the U.S. team's pre-Olympic training camp at StanfordUniversity, the mother of a 2-year-old is doing her best to be oneof the girls, which sometimes means playing with Play-Doh. At arecent team meeting, Allison Schmitt spelled out Torres' first namein Play-Doh, then placed her handiwork on the former Mission ViejoNadadores star's leg. Schmitt then rolled up the name, presentingTorres with a toy clay version of the Olympic rings.
"So it's just different being around these young kids," saidTorres, winner of nine Olympic medals in her previous four Games."It's fun, it makes me feel young, and it kind of invigorates me."
Speculation about what is really fueling Torres' unlikely comebackhas created one of the most compelling story lines of the BeijingGames.
At the recent 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Torres, 18 monthsout of retirement and having been away from top-level competitionfor seven years, won both the 50- and 100-meter freestyles. She seta pair of American records in the 50 to become the oldest U.S.swimming Olympian in history and the first American swimmer toappear in five Olympic Games.
Torres, who now lives in Florida, has since dropped the 100 fromher Olympic program to concentrate on the 50 and her bid for theindividual event gold medal that has eluded her in four Games. HerTrials' winning time of 24.25 seconds is nearly four-tenths fasterthan her bronze medal-winning time at the 2000 Olympics
Torres will also swim on the 4x100-meter freestyle and 4x100 medleyrelays, giving her a shot to equal her bitter rival JennyThompson's record for the most medals by a U.S. Olympian