RIO DE JANEIRO – It wouldn't do any good to try to bottle up his feelings, or tamp down the adrenaline that will flood his system for the next 24 hours. David Plummer didn't really want to, anyway, not after making the finals of the men's 100-meter backstroke at the Rio Olympics.

The former Gophers swimmer was a little nervous before Sunday afternoon's preliminaries, when he zipped through his first-ever Olympic race in 53.19 seconds. In the evening semifinals, he dropped his time to 52.50 — second fastest in the field — to make Monday's eight-man final at Olympic Aquatics Stadium.

The race for the Olympic gold medal in the men's 100 back is expected to be close, with Plummer, countryman Ryan Murphy, Australian Mitch Larkin and France's Camille Lacourt the favorites. The depth and talent of the field means the world record will likely be in play. After so many years of training for a moment like this one, Plummer wasn't about to let it overwhelm him.

"The way I've heard it explained is, you kind of let your emotions get more and more into it as you go through," said Plummer, of Minneapolis. "Once you get into that final, you know your emotions are going to run high. So you just accept that and try to go with it as best you can.

"I feel great. I've had some of the best training over the last few weeks that I feel I've ever had. And hopefully, I'll find a way to get better tomorrow."

Murphy was the fastest qualifier, finishing 0.01 of a second faster than Plummer. Larkin (52.70) and Lacourt (52.72) were right behind. The world record is 51.94, set by Aaron Peirsol in 2009.

Colleen Kelly — Star Tribune, Star Tribune
David Plummer of Minneapolis, who took his first competitive dive into an Olympic pool Sunday, is an Olympic rookie at age 30.

As a 30-year-old Olympic rookie, the Wayzata High School swimming coach has become a favorite story line on the U.S. men's swim team. He missed the 2012 Olympic team by 0.12 of a second and took on four more years of training, balancing life as an elite swimmer with being a husband, father and coach.

After his opening race, Plummer was asked if he ever thought he wouldn't get to the Summer Games. He laughed, saying that happened lots of times. But that didn't mean he was going to stop trying. "It's just not something I was ever willing to give up on," said Plummer, who trains at the U with coaches Gideon Louw and Kelly Kremer. "It felt too important to me, to prove to myself I was able to do what I believed I was able to do."

The experience gained through competing at three world championships helped calm him Sunday. On the advice of some U.S. Olympic backstroke alumni, he also watched "Hoosiers" Saturday night with teammates Michael Phelps and Jimmy Feigen. The trio flipped back and forth between the film and the telecast of Saturday night's swim finals, drawing inspiration from multiple sources.

Both his Sunday swims felt good, Plummer said. He tried to sharpen up over the final 25 meters in the semifinal, knowing the ability to finish will make all the difference in the final.

After climbing out of the water at nearly 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Plummer planned to meet up with his wife, Erin, give her a hug and get to bed. He already knew what he'd be dreaming of.

"This field is so deep," he said. "Everyone is going to be really fast. I'm excited."