OMAHA, Neb. — Auburn’s Kara Denby capped off the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials on Sunday, swimming to a fifth-place finish in her first Trials final.

Denby, who just completed her Auburn career as a 24-time All-American and six-time SEC champion, swam a personal-best time of 25.12 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle to finish fifth and less than a second behind American record holder Dara Torres (24.25).

Denby was the underdog throughout the event, entering the Olympic Trials as the No. 18 seed. She finished sixth in the preliminary with a 25.31 to make the semifinals. She improved her time again in the semis, clocking a 25.15 to make her first final of the meet.

Sunday’s women’s 50m free and men’s 1500m free were the final two events at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Three former Auburn swimmers earned spots on the team that will represent the United States in Beijing next month.

Mark Gangloff was the first to earn a spot, finishing second in the 100-meter breaststroke on Monday. Margaret Hoelzer followed on Tuesday by finishing second in the 100m back, then followed that up on Saturday by setting a new world record to also make the team in the 200-meter backstroke. Eric Shanteau was the last of the three to make the team, qualifying by finishing second in the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday.

The 2008 Olympic Games are set to run August 8-24 in Beijing.

For more information, go to http://www.USASwimming.org.