Dara Torres Olympic Swimmer did her best on Sunday to get a gold medal in what many believe will be her last Olympics.

The gold medal was lost by a mere one-hundredth of a second -- the exact same margin that almost kept Michael Phelps away from creating Olympic history.

Torres, a five-time Olympic champion and the oldest USA swimmer of all time, settled for 2 silvers on the concluding day of swimming at the Beijing Water Cube.

Torres had three second-place finishes altogether, but was just-so-close to gold in the 50-meter freestyle.

Dara Torres received her silver, then hustled back to the locker room to grab her cap and goggles. She anchored the U.S. to a second-place finish in the 4X100 medley relay, unable to catch Libby Trickett on a frantic sprint to the wall.

(Dara Torres had retired a 2nd time after the 2000 Sydney Games and then amazed everyone by competing again after just having her first child who is just 2 years old.)

She got away to a good beginning in the 50 and looked to be ahead halfway through the race. In what seemed to be a frenzied dash from one end of the pool to the other.

As they arrived at the wall, Dara Torres and Steffen were stroke for stroke. Steffen reached out with her left hand and Ms. Dara Torres stretched with her right -- Steffen's fingertip arrived there 1st.

In the relay -- Dara Torres laid claim to the 12th, and in all probability-- final, medal of her career games, giving her 11 in her career.

The career of Dara Torres Olympic swimmer may not be over yet.

Breaking the age roadblock, nevertheless, has not been effortlessly or inexpensively. Dara Torres utilizes a coach, a sprint coach, a strength coach, 2 stretchers, 2 masseuses, chiropractor, and a nursemaid, at the cost of at the least $100,000 per yr.

This investment has netted Dara Torres Olympic Swimmer 12 Olympic medals.