Man oh man……. you gotta love this.

Dara Torres, a 41-year-old mother who won her first Olympic gold medal the year before Michael Phelps was born, capped the U.S. Swimming Trials yesterday by earning a spot in a second event at the Beijing Games.

Torres won the women’s 50-meter freestyle in a time of 24.25 seconds at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, to eclipse the U.S. record she set the previous day in the semifinals. Torres clinched a spot on her record fifth Olympic team on July 4 by winning the 100m freestyle.

“I can’t lie and say, `Oh, I’m just glad I’m going,”’ said Torres, whose 2-year-old daughter Tessa accompanied her to the award stand. “I want a medal.”

Torres said after yesterday’s race that she planned to meet with U.S. head coach Mark Schubert about whether she should sit out the 100m freestyle in Beijing to give her a better chance at winning the 50m.

Torres is 26 years older than 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel, the youngest Olympian on this year’s 43-member U.S. team, and only one other swimmer on the squad is over the age of 30.

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