Dara Torres finishes second in Atlanta swim

American swimmer Dara Torres posted her best result since the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, finishing second at the ATT Winter National Championships. The 44-year-old, who is still testing her surgically repaired left knee, took second in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 25.24 seconds. Torres won three silver medals at the Beijing Games and is hoping to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. Fellow American Jessica Hardy was first in 25.08. "I'm just glad I've got seven more months of training" until the Olympic trials, Torres said. "To be competitive, I need to get a little faster, a little stronger. "It's nice to finish second. I haven't been second in a while. If I do that at the trials, I'll be fine." On the men's side, South African Darian Townsend won the 200-meter individual medley. Other winners on the first day of the three-day competition were American Nthan Adrian in the men's 50 free, Caitlin Leverenz with a personal best in the women's 200 IM and a pair of French swimmers in the 400 freestyle: Camille Muffat for the women and Yannick Agnel on the men's side. One USA star missing from the Atlanta meet was 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. He is skipping the Winter Nationals and the Duel in the Pool against a European all-star team, which will be held at an American college in two weeks.