Torres sets U.S. record in her 'warmup' race

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 10, 2000

INDIANAPOLIS -- The idea was to get her feet wet, so to speak. It had been eight years since her last appearance at an Olympic trials, so Dara Torres wanted a simple, no-pressure race before competing in the freestyle sprints.

She picked the 100 meter butterfly as her warmup. She ended up setting the American record in 57.58 seconds in the morning preliminaries.

"I went into this event not having high expectations," Torres said. "This was an afterthought, a way for me to get an event under my belt."

Torres said she purposefully slowed a little in Wednesday night's semifinals, but she still goes into tonight's final as the second seed. If she qualifies, Torres will become the first American to swim in four Olympics.

EXTRA CREDIT IN GEOGRAPHY: The class president is going to play hooky this fall. Seventeen-year-old Kaitlin Sandeno, who was the junior class president last year at Altera High in Lake Forest, Calif., will have to take a break in September after winning the 400 individual medley and qualifying for the Olympics.

"When I get home, I need to go to school and get work through my teachers so I have a month of credit," Sandeno said.

Christina Teuscher, the NCAA champion from Columbia University and the pre-race favorite, finished third behind Sandeno and Philadelphia's Maddy Crippen.

MAKING A CHANGE: The last time Brooke Bennett swam the 400 freestyle at the trials, she was a nervous teenager with a bad game plan. She enters the 400 today as an Olympic gold medalist determined to correct a four-year-old mistake.

Bennett was ranked No. 1 in the 400 in 1996, but it was her first event at the trials, and at 16, she admittedly was nervous. Coach Peter Banks thought the best thing for Bennett to do was go out fast and hold on. She went out fast but was unable to hold on, finishing fourth.

She went on to win the 800 freestyle in the Olympics but wants to double in 2000.

"We made a tactical error that was basically my fault," Banks said. "I thought she needed to be close to the big guns, but it would have been better if she didn't go out so hard. She's much more confident going in this time."

Bennett, once again, is the top-rated American at 400 meters.

AIR HAZARD: United Airlines' labor problems created travel problems for Bennett on Monday. Bennett and Banks were supposed to fly out of Tampa on United to Chicago, but their flight was canceled. Then a second flight was canceled. They finally were put on a U.S. Air flight to Pittsburgh, but their connection was canceled. They ended up on a Northwest flight to Detroit before catching a connection to Indianapolis.

The final tally: Four cities, three airlines and about six hours of hassles.

"If that's the worst thing that happens to us this week," Banks said, "I'll be happy."

SAD ENDING: Kristine Quance-Julian was the No. 1 seed in the 400 individual medley after the preliminaries at the 1996 trials, but she was disqualified for violating a rarely enforced rule about stroke technique. Hoping to make up for the disappointment four years later, she finished eighth in the final.

THAT OLD FEELING: Like everyone else, Janet Evans has been impressed by the comeback of Torres. But Evans, who drew a standing ovation when introduced before Wednesday's competition, has not been inspired to jump back in the pool.

At 28, Evans is five years younger than Torres, but, she said, there is a huge difference between sprint and distance events. "Distance swimmers swim 12 miles a day," Evans said. "Pushing 30, I didn't know if my body could take that."

Although she is no longer in the pool, Evans still has a presence in the sport. Her world records in the 400 and 800 freestyle are the oldest on the books. She set the 400 (4 minutes, 3.85 seconds) in 1988, and the 800 (8:16.22) and 1,500 (15:52.10) were set a year later.

ANOTHER RECORD: In the men's 100 breaststroke preliminary, Seth VanNeerden set a personal best of 1:03.76.

The same event had a disappointing conclusion for Michael Norment, whose time of 1:04.55 was well off his personal standard. Jeremy Linn, who set the American record in the event at the 1996 Olympics, did not advance. The 25-year-old Norment has another chance to make the Olympic team, in the 200 breaststroke. He is the fourth seed.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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