“Michael Phelps will probably win all of the medals and get all of the attention, but there’s a lot of drama on the women’s side, too,” Conrad Johnson, head coach of Team New York Aquatics, a Masters Swimming team, recently said.

Inside Beijing’s National Aquatics Center — the “Water Cube” — the woman to watch is Dara Torres, who’s not only making waves in women’s swimming, but also throughout the entire sport, in which competition typically ends after college.

At 41, Torres is one of the oldest swimmers to make the U.S. Olympic team. She recently graced a Time magazine cover, showing off the results of her intense training by sporting a six-pack. Beijing is her fifth Olympic Games, making her the first American to swim in five games. A three-time gold medalist, she earned her Olympic ticket by clocking in a time of 24.25 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle, and winning the 100-meter freestyle in 53.78, at the Olympic swim trials in Omaha, Neb., earlier this month.

Although some members of the swimming community point out that Torres has the benefit of an entourage of trainers, and has the means to focus completely on racing, she does receive kudos for racing against swimmers half her age.

Not all is smooth for Torres and her entourage, though. In late July, Torres’s coach, Michael Lohberg, announced that he’s fighting aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder that could be fatal. Despite the misfortune, Torres may very well take home more gold.

Other veteran competitors include Amanda Beard, the star breaststroker who made headlines by carrying a teddy bear to the starting block at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where she won silver medals in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. At the age of 26, Beard has parlayed her swimming career into a modeling career, appearing in Playboy and Maxim.

Another veteran is Natalie Coughlin, who won a pair of gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. Coughlin, 25, excels at the backstroke and is known for her signature underwater streamlines.

In Omaha, Coughlin smashed her own world record in the 100-meter backstroke, and became the only woman in history to break the 59-second mark, with a 58.97. The 100 back is Coughlin’s marquee race, but close contenders include Margaret Hoelzer, who came in second at 59.21 and also snagged a place in Beijing.

Some deck watchers forecast that the seasoned competitors could come home medaling. “I think veterans like Amanda Beard have a chance, even though she was seeded very low,” a professor of physical education and athletics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of CUNY and an All-American Masters Swimmer, Jane Katz, said. “I wouldn’t count her out, but there’s always the new kids on the block.”

New kids, indeed.

The Female Phelps

After Torres, Katie Hoff is the swimmer to watch. She is expected to take home several medals, including gold. The 19-year-old garnered six individual wins in Omaha, and is known for her versatility, excelling in a range of events, including the 200 and 800 free. She holds the world record for the 400-meter individual medley, widely considered the decathlon in the sport because it includes 100 meters in all four strokes. Hoff stands out with her signature strong finish, where she typically pulls away from the pack in the second half of a race. Hoff’s marquee races also include the 200 IM.

“The woman who I call the female Phelps is Katie, because she won six independent medals at the trials, and received very little attention,” Katz said.

At the Olympic trials, Hoff took the American record in the 200 free at 1:55.88. As at the trials, she’s expected to jockey for the gold in the 200 IM against Coughlin and Ariana Kukors of Auburn University. At the trials, Hoff won the race in 2:09.71, smashing Coughlin’s American record of 2:09.77. Coughlin swam in second in 2:10.32, and Kukors third in 2:10.40.

The Backstroke

Deck observers forecast that the backstroke events will offer the most drama, given the number of top rivals. Coughlin is the top backstroker among the Americans, but she faces some tough competition, including Kirsty Coventry of South Africa, Laure Manaudou of France, and the Australian swimmer Libby Lenton.

The Butterfly

An up-and-coming swimmer to watch is the University of Tennessee’s Christine Magnuson, who will race the 100-meter butterfly, and, depending on her results in that race, will possibly also swim the butterfly portion of the medley relay. In Omaha, Magnuson came in first at 58.11 in a tight race, touching out fellow up-and-comers Elaine Breeden, the Stanford swimmer who came in second at 58.21, and Rachael Komisarz, the 2004 Olympian who came in at 58.36 (Coughlin had scratched the race). Magnuson is considered an underdog, choosing to swim with Tennessee’s fledgling program, as opposed to Clemson, Northwestern, and Georgia. In Omaha, she was one of the few fresh faces to medal.

The 800 Freestyle

The 800 free is one of the few distance events that remain in Olympic competitions, and requires a balance of technique and endurance. The leading lady is world champion Kate Ziegler: In 2007, she broke the world record in the 1,500 free at 15:42.54, smashing Janet Evans’s 1988 record of 15:52.10. In Omaha, Hoff won the 800 free at 8:20.81, but Ziegler held onto second at 8:25.38. While it was more than a second slower than Ziegler’s personal best, she has had a month to tune up since Omaha.

International Rivals

America’s biggest rivals in women’s swimming are from Australia and China, including Lenton, Libby Trickett, Stephanie Rice, and Leisel Jones. Britta Steffan of Germany, Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands, and Frederica Pelligrini of Italy will also make strong showings.

A crowd-pleaser in swimming are always the sprints, including the 100 free, which will feature the woman to watch — Torres. Stay tuned.

Ms. Wu is a contributing writer for Swimmer magazine.