Seven-year itch

Torres was 0.07 second behind Thompson’s 24.74-second win, but served notice she will be a force to reckon with over the next nine months in her quest to become the first US woman to swim in four Olympic Games.

In her first major meet since the 1992 Olympics, Torres set a personal best in the event. Her prior mark, 25.37, came half her life ago.

Torres, a member of United States Olympic gold medal relay teams in 1984 and 1992, also placed third in the 200m freestyle in 1:58.32.

Thompson was not surprised at Torres. She has lost to her too many times in training for that.

“I usually swim against her every day in practice and I usually don’t win,” Thompson said.

US swimmers dominated, setting two US records and equaling a third in competition featuring 300 swimmers from 38 nations.

Chad Carvin won the 400m freestyle in 3:42.16, breaking the 16-year-old American record of 3:43.71 by Jeff Kostoff.

Carvin, still well off the world mark of 3:35.01 by Australian Grant Hackett, returns after a back injury that kept him from the 1998 World meet and a heart condition that forced him out of the 1996 Olympics.

BJ Bedford won the 50m backstroke in an American record 27.90 seconds, three-hundredths under the old mark of Angel Martino from 1993.

World champion and long course world-record holder Lenny Krayzelburg of the United States won the 100m backstroke in 51.82 seconds.

Reigning World and Olympic champion Tom Dolan was second in the 400m individual medley in 4:17.57 in his first meet since knee surgery last may that kept the American from the Pan-Pacific meet.

Finland’s Jani Sievinen won in 4:13.32 after American Tom Wilkens was disqualified for a one-handed touch in the breaststroke leg.

US champion Jason Lezak equaled the 100m freestyle American record to win in 48.19 seconds.