Torres Hits High Gear in Stunning Comeback

She’s not quite Dionne Warrick, queen of the infomercial, but Dara Torres has developed a faithful following.

When the 32-year-old Torres showed up at Stanford in July, the first step of her quixotic comeback after a seven-year retirement, her new teammates weren’t asking about her two Olympic gold medals. They wanted to know about her Tae-Bo workout videos.

In a matter of 19 weeks--and three swim meets--Torres, amazingly, has established herself as a legitimate Olympic contender. So, get ready for that move from late-night infomercials to “SportsCenter.”

She won the women’s 50-meter freestyle Thursday against a first-rate field at the U.S. Open, including Olympic champion Amy Van Dyken and Pan Pacific champion Jenny Thompson.

Torres’ time of 25.29 seconds, a personal best, is the third fastest in the world this year. Finishing second to Torres here at Palo Alto College was training partner Thompson (25.65).

“On the plane ride out here I was looking back and thinking, ‘What possessed me to do this?’ ” said Torres, who grew up in Beverly Hills. “I don’t know why I had confidence when I started. When I talked to [Stanford and Olympic coach] Richard [Quick], I said I just want to make a team again and make a relay. As workouts started progressing, I thought I could maybe make it in something else.”

Torres is more than twice as old as the other impact swimmer of the meet’s first day. Megan Quann, 15, of Puyallup, Wash., broke the American record in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 1:07.94. The record had been held by Amanda Beard of Irvine, who clocked 1:08.09 at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

“I knew I could break that [American] record,” Quann said. “I know that the world record is definitely within reach.”

The record (1:06.52) is held by 26-year-old Penny Heyns of South Africa. Heyns finished fifth in 1:10.13 but wasn’t overly concerned about the loss.

Torres and Quann’s performances overshadowed several notable ones.

Aaron Peirsol, 16, of the Irvine Novaquatics finished second to world-record holder Lenny Krayzelburg of Los Angeles, achieving a personal best in the 200 backstroke (1:59.75). Krayzelburg set a meet record in 1:57.74.