missy franklin struck me as just about
the most down-to-earth aquatic athlete ever.
the 17yo from centennial, colorado,
was the first u.s. woman to compete in seven olympic swimming events.
counting qualifying & semifinal rounds, she swam 15 races
during the london games.
she medaled five times — four gold, one bronze.
she established a new world's record twice.
she established a new american record the other three times.
melissa jeanette franklin was born in pasadena, california,
the daughter of two canadian parents.
she began swimming at age five.
she has been coached by todd schmitz of the colorado stars club team
since she was seven. he has never coached an olympian before.
missy, now 6'1" with size 13 feet & a smile just about as big,
to date has declined prize money & endorsements
so she can continue to compete as an amateur
for her high-school team at regis jesuit.
day one of olympic competition, missy —
along with teammates jessica hardy, lia neal & allison schmitt —
won her bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay
with a time of 3:34.24, a new american record.
australia won the gold, the netherlands the silver.
day three, missy won her first gold
in the 100m backstroke with a time of 58:33,
beating her own american record.
day five, missy won gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay —
along with teammates allison schmitt, dana vollmer & shannon vreeland —
with a time of 7:42.92, a new american record.
day seven, missy won gold & broke the world record
in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:04.06,
the first american woman to win the event in 40 years.
finally, missy — along with teammates allison schmitt,
rebecca soni & dana vollmer — won gold in the 4x100m medley relay
with a world-record-breaking time of 3:52.05.
it should be noted, in the two events where she didn't medal,
missy came in fourth [200m freestyle] & fifth [100m freestyle].
of the 10,500 or so athletes competing at the london games,
only one earned more medals than missy: michael phelps, who won six.
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