COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Dara Torres easily won the 50-meter freestyle at a meet on Sunday and still didn’t like her performance.
She vowed not to make the same mistakes when the times really matter this summer. Torres, 42, who won a silver medal in the event in Beijing last summer, took the 50 free at the Texas Senior Circuit No. 2 meet at Texas A&M yesterday in 24.62 seconds, improving on her time of 24.73 seconds from the morning preliminaries. But Torres said she swallowed water – an unlikely gaffe for someone who’s competed in five Olympics – and hurried her strokes early in the race. She came up coughing and gasping for breath after touching the wall. “I didn’t swim my race the way I should’ve,” said Torres. She swam the 50 free in 24.07 seconds in Beijing, an American record. She missed the gold by 0.01 seconds to Germany’s Britta Steffen. The world record is 23.96 seconds, set by Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands on April 19. MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Miami Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks has been charged with using his truck to hit a police officer who tried to stop the vehicle on foot. Miami Beach Police say the officer tried to stop Starks, 25, when he was driving a truck packed with 13 people in heavy traffic early yesterday. They say the vehicle was meant for four people. Police say Starks kept slowly moving forward even as the officer was beside the truck. They say Starks swerved the vehicle slightly, hitting the officer in the chest and pinning him against another vehicle. MIAMI – Former major leaguer Jim Leyritz says he has sold off memorabilia because he’s broke, halted charity work because he’s become a social pariah and scattered case files throughout his house, intent on defeating a DUI manslaughter charge. All of this, the one-time New York Yankee says, for a woman’s death he never could have prevented. ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Jockey Rene Douglas is in fair condition a day after being thrown from his horse during a race at Arlington Park in suburban Chicago. Douglas was aboard Born to Be during Saturday’s Arlington Matron Handicap when the horse clipped heels with another horse and fell at the top of the stretch. Born to Be flipped and tossed Douglas over her head and she then landed on top of the rider. Northwestern Memorial Hospital said Sunday afternoon that Douglas is in fair condition. In other horse racing news: