She wasn't sure if she could bear to even look, because there was just as much of a chance for bad news as good news.

So when Lara Jackson turned around to look at her time in the women's 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials last week at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., she was a little bit nervous.

But she'd already come this far, hadn't she? From winning state gold medals at Chapin High School and beginning her career at Arizona as a walk-on to becoming an NCAA champion. And now, just maybe, she had grabbed a spot in the Olympics in Beijing.

"I was kind of reluctant to turn around and see what I had done," said the 21-year-old Jackson, a 2005 Chapin graduate, speaking about her performance for the first time since Sunday's U.S. finals. "At that moment, you could turn around and be an Olympian or not."

By now, it's common knowledge what happened. Dara Torres, 41, won the event in a record time of 24.25 seconds and has become a media darling because of her amazing story about returning to the sport after having children and taking half a decade off.

But few talked about the close finish behind Torres. Jackson finished .06 of a second behind second-place finisher Jessica Hardy, who out-touched Jackson at the wall at the end of the race.

For Jackson, the bronze medal from the Olympic Trials was nice, but ...

The bottom line is she was .06 of a second from making the U.S. Olympic team.

That's a pill that would be too tough to swallow for anyone. But one of the biggest reasons Jackson has had so much success is her mental toughness.

And now she needed all of it to be able to put this near-miss in her rear-view mirror.

I was like, 'O.K., where am I? You've got to be kidding me! Third?' " she said. "But I am proud of myself. I had an incredible meet. It is bittersweet being so close, but everything happens for a reason, and I'm just fired up for the next thing.

"I'm young, and I have time. I'll be back. You haven't seen the last of me. I'm just taking from it, learning what I can and using it to my advantage."

But there was plenty of good news to come out of this meet for Jackson. She had set a new U.S. record in the 50 free during the prelims (24.50, which broke the old record of 24.90 held by Torres), which was one of 21 U.S. records and one of 45 meet records that fell. And her record-setting prelim time would've been good enough to punch her ticket to China.

She also swam the three best times of her life in the event.

"Obviously, I would've liked to go my fastest in the finals," Jackson said. "But it doesn't always work out that way.

"But I got to be the American record-holder, even if it was just for (a short time). I had my three best times, and I can't complain about that. I definitely reached my goals for times. My old coach in El Paso, Wright Stanton, said you can't complain with your best, no matter what you're looking to accomplish. And I feel that, on a personal level, I took myself to a whole other level. Now it's time to start operating on that level and see what I can do."

One thing is for sure: her parents are enjoying watching their daughter excel on the national stage in the sport she loves.

"To see her doing this É I guess the word is unbelievable," Jackson's mother, Martina, said. "I mean, you go to all the meets locally, do all the high school stuff É And Lara never did nationals. This was her first Olympic Trials. It's just a thrill. Unbelievable. I'm so proud of her.

"I told her, 'Lara, I could die happy today; you've accomplished so much. The coaches tell me she's just at the beginning of her career and she still has so much potential to get better. This is everything a parent dreams about. I mean, how many parents are there in El Paso who take their kids to the pool? It's just unbelievable."

Jackson's ascent has been a quick one. She only started at Arizona in 2005 as a walk-on, building her way up to earning a scholarship. Then, this past season, the Wildcats won the Pac-10 and the NCAA championship. Jackson herself won the NCAA title in the 50 free and set a pool record in doing so.

As such, even with the near-miss, Jackson is happy with where she is in her career.

"Definitely," she said. "I couldn't be in a better place. I've consistently gotten better and have been lucky not to have had any setbacks. You don't always get better every time you get in the pool, but I've been fortunate that at the end of every season I really do improve.

"I've been fortunate, but it was a lot of hard work, too."

Jackson's father, Keith, said he learned a long time ago never to doubt his daughter. When she chose to walk-on at Arizona instead of accepting scholarship offers at other schools, he had some concerns, but as usual she proved that she knew what she was doing.

"In fact, most of the swimming community in El Paso thought we would be better off letting her go to a nice Division 2 school where she'd be a star," he said. "But Lara wanted to compete against the best. She had good fundamentals and a lot of promise, but she had not been in a big-time program against the kind of swimmers she was going to be competing against. Obviously, you're taking a chance."

One of the knocks against Jackson in high school was that she sometimes paid too much attention to other interests -- like horseriding -- and wasn't dedicated enough to have success at the major college level.

As it turned out, that kind of challenge was what Jackson needed. She'd never lifted weights and didn't swim year-round like many of her new teammates. That's been good and bad, but mostly good.

It was bad in the fact that maybe she wasn't as ready for this year's Olympic Trials as she might have been. At the same time, she's a very young 21 in this swim game.

"On the Olympic scene, she's pretty new," Keith said. "She's just starting. Her coaches have told us she hasn't even come close to her peak. I actually think this happened a year to soon for her. We're hoping, and I know she wants to train for the 2012 Olympics."

Like his wife, Keith sometimes shakes his head in disbelief at the high level of success his daughter has achieved. He knew she had the drive to do well, but this well?

"If you had talked to me three or four years ago, no way I would say (she'd be in the finals of the Olympic Trials). We're incredibly proud. It's been a great trip, been great fun. Here's a little walk-on from El Paso and she's the captain of the NCAA women's champions. We're proud, but we're humbled, because we never expected to be here. We're just happy. If she never won another race, she would've exceeded our wildest dreams."

Jackson is humble, but like many star athletes, she has an uncommon belief in herself and what she can accomplish. That's why she wouldn't say she's surprised at the success she's achieved.

"I wouldn't say that I didn't imagine I'd get this far," she said. "The sky's the limit, as long as I'm willing to put in the time and push myself. If you want it and you put in the work, you can go get it. And that's what I've done.

"If you would've told me four years ago this is where I'd be, I'd have said, 'OK. Wow, that's crazy.' But I wouldn't say I expected it or didn't expect it. I just went out there and tried to get it."

There is one thing that has surprised Jackson -- the fact that she's become such a big topic in her hometown.

"I was shocked," she said when she learned of an Olympic Trials watching party. "It's kind of hard to imagine anybody cares. The fact that people were paying attention É I feel honored to be able to represent El Paso. It's very touching, because I didn't feel like anything special or like someone people would be paying attention to."

Keith said though she has a cool public persona, Lara secretly is thrilled with the media attention and accolades she's received.

"At the Trials, after she set the record, kids were asking for her autograph," Keith said. "She told me she looked behind her to see if someone else was there, because she couldn't believe they wanted her autograph. She's having fun. She loves the attention. She doesn't brag, but she likes it a lot and gets really excited."

Jackson also is excited about her future. She has turned her sights on the 2012 Olympics. In the mean time, she's looking forward to the upcoming NCAA season. She's been chosen as one of the team captains at Arizona.

"It's an honor," she said. "We have so many amazing girls who could lead the team. The fact that I was chosen among my peers, I feel the utmost respect for that. I want to step up and do the best job I can.

"I'm stoked for the future. It just keeps getting better. The next thing is the NCAA's, and then the summer nationals after that. The sky's the limit."

John Erfort may be reached at jerfort@elpasotimes.com; 546-6170.

Six-hundredths of a second.

That time it takes to blink an eye or touch the wall of a swimming pool was all that separated El Pasoan Lara Jackson from a trip to Beijing and the Olympics on Sunday night in Omaha, Neb.

Jackson, the former Chapin High School and Fort Bliss Barracudas star, finished third Sunday night in the finals of the 50-meter freestyle at the Olympic Trials. Dara Torres, the 41-year-old with nine Olympic medals already in her treasure chest, won the event, breaking her own American record with a time of 24.25. Jessica Hardy was second in 24.82 and Jackson was a heartbeat back in 24.88.

The top two earn a spot on the United States Olympic team.

Wright Stanton, who coached Jackson for the Barracudas, shook his head and said, "It isn't anything. Six hundredths of a second isn't anything. It isn't. You can't even see the difference. But I am so proud of Lara. She swam a great race. But I'm always proud of Lara."

Stanton had a big group of his swimmers and their parents gathered at Fuddruckers on the West Side. Stanton and the young swimmers waited patiently through Olympic track and field trial coverage, waiting for their hero to materialize on the television screen. At one point, Martina Jackson, Lara's mother, called Stanton. The race was already over by the time NBC aired it. But Stanton told Mom he did not want to know the result. He wanted to wait it out with the young swimmers.

Jackson's mother and father, Martina and Keith Jackson, have been with her all week at the Qwest Center.

"We've experienced the full gamut of emotions," Martina Jackson said. "She came here with some goals, and one of the goals was to get to finals, and you have to do that one race at a time, you have to get through preliminaries and semifinals. She wanted to swim a personal best. That's always what swimmers want to do. And she did that. ...

"I don''t know if she's intimidated by (Torres), but you have to swim in your own lane," Martina Jackson added. "You have to concentrate on what you're doing. But at finals, the energy in that events center is just so phenomenal I don't know how any of the swimmers can even concentrate."

But they did. And, finally, the moment came.

The swimmers walked onto the deck and the small room in the back of Fuddruckers erupted when Jackson walked past. More cheers erupted -- the shrieks and screams of excited young athletes -- when Jackson was introduced in lane six. The race began and the room turned into non-stop shrieks, pieces of hamburger and plates of fries and nachos and half-full shakes forgotten. There was one big groan when the names of Torres and Hardy popped onto the screen as the one-two finishers, the U.S. representatives to Beijing. Moments later, when the entire eight-woman field was posted, there was another groan and then more cheers and applause for Jackson's effort.

"That was really exciting," Stanton said. "Lara had a great meet and something like this is exciting for all these kids. It gives these kids here the opportunity to know that hey, that could be me someday."

It was an incredible weekend for Jackson. She was the NCAA champion in the event and she finished second to Torres at this distance last summer at senior nationals. She came into the Olympic Trials with the fifth-fastest qualifying time.

Saturday morning, though, swimming in the lane next to Torres, Jackson set an American record with a time of 24.50 -- breaking Torres' record. Saturday evening, again swimming next to Torres, Jackson finished third in the semifinal heat in a time of 24.90. And Sunday night she came within the blink of an eye, within those six-hundredths of a second, of making the U.S. team.

Stanton said he saw this kind of potential in the 21-year-old Jackson seven years ago.

"I did," he said. "She just kept getting faster and faster and she has continued to do that, continued to become a better athlete. She's always had a great work ethic."

Stanton said he had not talked to Jackson recently.

"She gets so focused before an event," he said. "I didn't try to call her. She usually calls when it is all over. But I did send her a text message after she broke the American record Saturday morning. I told her I was praying for her and that there were angels in the pool with her."

The enthusiastic group left the restaurant bit by bit, obviously disappointed for Jackson but just as obviously excited by her strong swim.

"I have two who could be in that spot someday," Stanton said. "Jake Hartley and Samantha Wilts."

Hartley, a 16-year-old junior at Coronado High School, said, "This was exciting. To see someone from my coach and from El Paso swim like that just inspires you. It's amazing what Lara Jackson has done. That's my race, too, the 50 free, so I understand. If one little thing goes wrong ..."

Wilts, an 11-year-old who will be a sixth-grader at Brown Middle School this fall, said, "That was exciting. I just kept screaming please win, please win when she was racing. Something like that just makes you want to go back and train harder."

Was it exciting?

Displaying an Olympic-class smile, Wilts nodded her head vigorously and said, "Yes."

In all the excitement, Jackson missed becoming an Olympian by the blink of an eye, by those nearly unseeable six-hundredths of a second, by a touch to the wall.

"Her goal is, after she finishes her NCAA eligibility, she would like to find a sponsor and start training for the 2012 Olympics," Martina Jackson said after the race. "USA swimming has teams that compete internationally all the time. This opens the door for the Pan Am Games. This opens the door for so many things. It's very exciting. I'm sorry for Lara because she didn't make the team -- but this was definitely a successful swim."

And it was a tremendous weekend for the University of Arizona swimmer.

They tried from all parts of the country, from every nook and cranny, and 88 swimmers met the Olympic Trial qualifying time in the 50-meter freestyle. Saturday morning, Jackson had the best time of those 88 -- the best time any American had ever clocked in 50 meters.

Sunday night she was the third fastest in the country -- a heartbeat from becoming an Olympian.

Six-hundredths of a second.

Bill Knight may be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com; 546-6171.

Lara Jackson celebrated Saturday after setting the U.S. record time of 24.50 in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries in Omaha, Neb. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press) It was a whirlwind day for Lara Jackson, a day filled with an eight-hour dance with an American record, two outstanding swims and a spot in tonight's United States Olympic Trials 50-meter finals at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

The former Chapin High School standout and current NCAA champion at Arizona broke Dara Torres' American record in the 50-meter freestyle Saturday morning, clocking a blazing 24.50. Jessica Hardy came back to break that record with a time of 24.48 in Saturday evening's first semifinal heat. Then Torres broke Hardy's record with a time of 24.38 in the second heat -- edging Jackson, who finished third in 24.90.

What it all amounts to, though, is that Jackson will be in lane six tonight in the 50-meter freestyle finals. The top two will earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. The race will be shown on Channel 9-KTSM (cable Channel 10), with coverage beginning at 7 p.m.

After Saturday morning's swim, Jackson told the Associated Press she surprised herself by going six-tenths below her previous best.

"I'm shocked," she said. "It's awesome. But it's not about what you do in the prelims and semis. I've got to do it in the finals and make the team."

Speaking of the 41-year-old Torres, who has already won nine Olympic medals, Jackson said, "She's an awesome swimmer. To race next to her is an honor. I read a quote from her where she said, 'At this level, it's all about racing.' She's right on about that."

Bill Knight may be reached at bknight@elpasotimes.com