The long break between the semifinal heats of the 200-meter backstroke did not help Northampton native Erin Voss much.
After finishing fourth in her race at the U.S. Olympic Trials Friday, Voss was right on the cusp of qualifying for the finals in Omaha, Nebraska. She just had to wait for the second semifinal heat to start. When it did, it was a tense two-plus minutes.
“I knew that if four beat me I was in and if five beat me I was out,” Voss said. “The hardest part was watching the second heat. It was probably the longest race I ever had to watch.”
Voss watched from the warm-down pool and after a “pretty stressful” last 50 meters in the second heat, the Northampton High graduate saw that she qualified for the finals.
“I was overjoyed when they finished and I saw my name eighth,” Voss said.
The Stanford commit touched the wall in 2 minutes, 10.06 seconds, setting a personal record by 0.05 seconds in the first semifinal heat.
Voss opened with a 31.36-second 50 meters and closed with splits of 32.95, 33.37 and 32.38.
Maya DiRado won the heat in 2:08.14, which is the top finals time, 1.92 seconds ahead of Voss.
Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin is seeded second in 2:08.63. She finished first in the second semifinal heat.
Franklin set the world record of 2:04.06 at the London Olympics.
The finals for the 200 back will be held Saturday (NBC, 8 p.m.). The top two finishers qualify for the Rio Olympics.
“For tomorrow I have nothing to lose,” Voss said. “I have nowhere to go but up. I accomplished my goal of making the top heat. Just go out and see if I can post a good time.”
Voss reached the semifinals when she finished second in her preliminary heat in 2:11.24. DiRado won that heat in 2:09.76.
“I got myself pretty nervous this morning,” Voss said. “It’s my best event and I wanted to do well. I think that hurt me this morning. Tonight I was a lot more relaxed and I think that helped me bring it home a lot more faster.”
With no races earlier in the day on Saturday, Voss had a simple plan for the day.
“I’m going to sleep in, get to the pool, warm up, relax and try not to think about it,” Voss said.