Regan Smith Opens Up After 'Selling Soul' in 200 Back Prelims, Still Winning in Final

Regan Smith turned some heads in the prelims of the 200 Back, touching in 2:04.1 to take the top seed decisively. Smith came back at night and swam a 2:05.5, a considerable time add, but still enough to take the win and earn gold. After the race, Smith said in her on-deck interview that she "sold her soul" on that morning swim and was nervous about swimming it again at night.

However, when speaking in the mixed zone, Smith said that 2:04.1 was a gut check to prove to herself that she was still good at backstroke... and she is. Though it may not have been pretty, Smith gutted out the final swim and touched first, perhaps another indication to herself that she's still got it.