Gary Hall Jr. was one of many swimmers making comebacks at the trials who had success. (AP)

"I far outreached my expectations," said Van Dyken, who will get a chance to defend her Olympic title in the 50-meter freestyle and also earned a spot on the 400 relay team. "Physically, I'm stronger than I've ever been. ... Mentally, it's really given me back my love for the sport."

Hall, who finished second to Russian star Alexander Popov in both the 50 and 100 free at the Atlanta Games, came to Indy having endured two tumultuous years. He was suspended for three months in 1998 after testing positive for marijuana, then received even more devastating news last year -- he has diabetes.

Forced to cope with as many as eight insulin shots a day, Hall's training suffered and he wasn't even sure if he'd enter the 100 at the trials. He wound up with a spot on the team by finishing second to Neil Walker, then set an American record in the 50 at 21.76 seconds -- the second-fastest time in history behind Popov's 21.64.

"I'm very excited about breaking the record," he said. "But Popov has set the new standard, and that record is next."

Torres, who left swimming after the 1992 Barcelona Games, dabbled in modeling and television work before returning to the sport last year. She not only will be the first American to swim in four Olympics; she qualified in three individual events and has a place on at least one relay team.

Still, the oldest woman to make the U.S. swim team was feeling the wear and tear after beating Van Dyken in the 50 free Wednesday night.

"The times I swam here won't compete in Sydney," Torres, 33, said. "My legs are sore and very tired."

In terms of times, Torres could have been speaking for the entire U.S. team, which failed to break any world records during the trials. The Australians, by comparison, wound up with three world marks at their May selection meet.

Does that mean trouble in Sydney?

"It's too early to assess," insisted Mark Schubert, coach the U.S. men's team. "It's easy to race fast when you don't have the second- or third-best swimmer in the world right next to you. The real challenge is the Olympics."

Besides, the Americans failed to set a world record at their 1996 trials, but still dominated the Atlanta Games with 13 gold medals.

On the other hand, the U.S. team won't have the home-pool advantage this time. Also, the trials were pushed back to a mere month before the Sydney Games; the last time the meet was held so late, 1988, the Americans won only eight golds in Seoul.

"One thing we learned in '88 that will really help this time is balancing work and rest," said U.S. women's coach Richard Quick. "It's been an education process the last two or three years. We wanted people to set their goals to be ready for Sydney."

The Americans also have some work to do to make sure they're full adapted to the revolutionary bodysuit. The sport's governing body, USA Swimming, flip-flopped on whether to allow the high-tech attire at the trials, finally granting approval just a few weeks before the meet.

Some swimmers -- notably world record holder Tom Malchow -- switched suits between the preliminaries and finals, struggling to find just the right fit.

"I'm sorry we didn't have time to experiment in them," Schubert said. "I think between now and Sydney, we'll learn to put the suit to better use -- when to put it on, whether to put it on wet. We're still playing with those sort of things."

Led by Torres, this will be the oldest women's team in U.S. history, with an average age of 21.58 years. It could have been even older, but 33-year-old Angel Martino failed in her comeback bid after having a baby in 1997.

For the first time, the women are older than the men, who average 21.33 and feature eight teen-agers. Michael Phelps, 15, is the youngest male to make the team since 1932.

"We certainly have some phenoms who busted through on the team this year," Schubert said. "The younger guys showed a lot of presence. They were not overwhelmed by the trials. I see them having a chance to get better and better."