Record-setting Olympic swimmer Dara Torres fell short of making the U.S. team on the last night of the trials in Omaha on Monday night; not only that, but she announced to the nation that she was retiring.
Torres became the first American to swim in five Olympics and the oldest female swimmer ever at the Games when she took part in the Beijing Games at age 41, back in 2008.
After she brought home three silver medals from Beijing, Torres underwent radical knew surgery for one last chance at Olympic triumph. However, that dream was cut short on Monday when she finished fourth in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 24.82, which was essentially an improvement over the trial-winning time of 24.90 in 2000.
"I don't think there's anything I could have changed," said Torres, whose first Olympic Games were in her hometown of Los Angeles in 1984. "You got to look at it realistically. As much as I want to win and I wanted to make the team, that's pretty good for a 45-year-old."
According to the Washington Post, Torres said that although she is used to winning that was not the goal. The main goal was to try to make it and she did not quit, but she is really happy with how she did.
"This is really over," Torres said, in the LA Times. "That's it, I'm going to enjoy some time with my daughter, have a nice summer and cheer on the U.S. team from afar."
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