Dara Torres will not compete in her sixth Olympic team after she finished in fourth place in the 50-meter freestyle on Monday night, her only event at the U.S. swimming trials.
After realizing her Olympic career was coming to an end early Torres lingered behind the other swimmers as they exited the pool, literally soaking in the moment.
At 45-years-old Torres had hoped to focus her efforts on the single event in the hopes of competing in the 2012 London Olympics.
After exiting the pool Torres said:
“This is really over. That’s it, I’m going to enjoy some time with my daughter, have a nice summer and cheer on the U.S. team.”
At 41-years-old Torres not only competed in the Beijing Olympics, she won three silver medals. After Beijing Torres underwent a radical knee surgery procedure and ultimately decided to put all of her hopes in a mad dash from one side of the pool to the other.
When all was said and done Dana Torres seemed happy with her final professional performance, telling reporters:
“Obviously I was hoping to make the team. That was my goal and missing it by less than a tenth of a second is tough, but I don’t think there’s anything I could have changed.”
After the event Torres scoops up her 6-year-old daughter Tessa and told her she would still take her to the London Olympics to watch the event on the world stage.
When asked if she was nervous Torres said she had the same nervous energy she had during her first U.S. trials way back in 1984.
While Dara Torres didn’t believe she would be serious medal contender she had hoped to bow out on the world’s biggest competitive stage.
