Torres nears Olympic berth at 41

OMAHA, July 3 (UPI) -- Dara Torres, who at age 41 is trying to make her fifth Olympic team, qualified Thursday for the 100-meter freestyle final at the U.S. Swimming Trials.

Torres had the second fastest time in the semifinals and if she can duplicate that in Friday's final, she will become the oldest American female swimmer to compete in the Olympics.

American record holder Natalie Couglin had the fastest semifinal time of 53.66. Torres had a 53.76, followed by Lacey Nymeyer in 54.07.

Torres has won nine Olympic medals, most recently a bronze in the 100 freestyle at the 2000 Games in Sydney. She missed the Athens Olympics after giving birth to her first child.

Thursday's three finals were won by Scott Spann (200-meter breaststroke), Elaine Breeden (200-meter butterfly) and Garrett Weber-Gale (100-meter freestyle).

Weber-Gale edged American record holder Jason Lezak in the freestyle. Superstar Michael Phelps originally entered the event, but withdrew after the preliminaries. Although he entered eight events, Phelps is expected to gain an Olympic spot in only five.

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