Jenny Thompson finished second in the prelims, but won the 100m freestyle final.(AP)

Torres touched second at 54.62, while Ashley Tappin and Amy Van Dyken finished 3-4 in a star-studded final to earn another trip to the Olympics as members of the 400 freestyle relay team.

Thompson also defeated Torres in the 100 butterfly.

At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Van Dyken was the first woman to win four gold medals in an Olympics. After two shoulder operations, she resumed training in March and came to the trials trailing in the wake left by Thompson and Torres.

"This is probably my last go," said Thompson, who has won five gold medals and a silver at the Olympics. "I just wanted to make sure I covered all my bases and did everything right."

She'll have one more duel with Torres in the 50 free, which begins Tuesday.

Kristy Kowal broke the 8-year-old American record in the 200 breaststroke, finishing at 2 minutes, 24.75 seconds to make up for a devastating setback three days earlier.

Obviously relieved, Kowal pumped her fist toward the crowd at the Indiana University Natatorium, having eclipsed the record of 2:25.35 set by Anita Nall at the 1992 trials. In a twist of fate, Nall announced her retirement a day earlier because of health problems.

Kowal, 21, joined University of Georgia teammate Courtney Shealy on the Olympic team and posted the second-fastest time in the world this year in the 200 breast.

"Thank you for not losing faith in me," said Kowal, who missed the team in the 100 breast by one-hundredth of a second.

Amanda Beard, who won a gold and two silver medals as a 14-year-old in Atlanta four years ago, showed her career was back on track by touching next at 2:26.79 to claim the second ticket to Sydney.

Beard held the lane marker and literally shook with excitement after looking at the scoreboard. Having traded in her teddy bear for body piercings and tattoos, she once again resembled the adorable youngster who charmed Atlanta.

"I was not really expecting to make it back," said Beard, who slumped in the world rankings and took a sabbatical after the 1996 Games. "I didn't look at the board at first when I finished. I was scared."

In a race that went according to plan, world record holder Lenny Krayzelburg breezed to his second spot on the Sydney squad by winning the 200-meter backstroke at 1:57.31, while 17-year-old Aaron Peirsol took the second berth at 1:57.98.

But Krayzelburg came up well short of his record time of 1:55.87, continuing a trend that marked the trials through the first six days. While several U.S. marks have fallen, the Americans are still looking to make their first dent in the world record book with the Sydney Games a month away.

"I promise you I'll be better in Sydney," said Krayzelburg, who first made the team by winning the 100 backstroke.

There were no surprises in the 200 individual medley, either. Tom Dolan doubled up on the Olympic team, following up his victory in the 400 IM with a winning time of 2:00.81. Tom Wilkens, his chief rival, was second at 2:01.38.

"It's not the best event for me," Dolan said. "It's a little unnatural. It's nice to win tonight and hope to go a lot faster in September."

Gary Hall Jr. of Phoenix streaked through the 50 freestyle, leading eight qualifiers into the eight-man final at 21.91 seconds, less than three-tenths of a second off the world record held by his Russian rival, Alexander Popov.

Hall went 21.93 in the morning preliminaries, breaking Matt Biondi's 8-year-old record of 22.12 in the trials. Then, Hall went even faster in the evening.

Ian Crocker, the first product of a Maine-based program to make the trials, showed he's more than a mere oddity. He took down Biondi's 1988 trials record in the 100 butterfly with a preliminary swim of 52.82.

Crocker also was the top qualifier in the evening semifinals at 53.07.

Lindsay Benko of Los Angeles led the 200 backstroke semifinals at 2:13.24. Brooke Bennett, the defending Olympic and world champion from Plant City, Fla., went into the final of the 800 free with the fastest time, 8:32.84.

"I definitely treat it like my baby," Bennett said.