Dara Torres plans to have major surgery on arthritic left knee at end of summer

Torres plans to have knee surgery after worlds

Dara Torres plans to have major surgery on her arthritic left knee at the end of the summer.

The 42-year-old Torres said on a conference call Wednesday that she might not swim the 100-meter freestyle at next week’s U.S. national championships because it’s painful to do a flip turn. She expects to compete in the 50 free, which doesn’t require a turn.

Torres says she has no cartilage left in the knee and that it swelled up badly when she practiced a few starts Tuesday. She has been unable to do kick sets or weight-training that puts stress on the knee.

Torres won three silver medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics. She’ll have the surgery after the world championships — assuming she qualifies at nationals — then decide on her swimming future.