While there are never guarantees in sport, The Next Big Thing in American swimming continues to build on an awesome 2011 and has the potential to be one of the real breakout stars of London if she swims like she has the talent and drive to. This is also the first women’s individual world record to go down since the tech suits ban. It’s been interesting to watch the tap dance going on in the press conferences about her- company line is that, yes, Missy Franklin could very well be a once-in-a-generation talent, but no, don’t even think of comparing her to Michael Phelps. She’s a 16 year old kid with a brilliant future, and we don’t want to wreck that with too high expectations, even though we think she’s capable of amazing things.
Franklin blurted through waves of laughter post-race: “I had no idea. I didn’t even know what a world record was!” Schmitz touched the truth in there when he noted that Franklin has scant experience of short-course to the extent that she would not have had any expectations on where she should be on the clock - no limits, then, either, though the coach believed that she would be “disappointed that it wasn’t 1:59-point … but that’s what makes her hungry”.
She is certainly a gifted athlete, who is going to have some huge mental challenges ahead.I saw an interview of her after her great performance at World Championships and she commented on how cool it was to help her high school win state championships.I thought that was neat to hear.
I noticed in that article that she has already had to turn down $17,000 to compete school. That is a tough decision, not to mention future earning potential.
I definitely wish good health and good luck to her.
By all accounts, she’s got a wonderful head for the sport- 15 minutes before a race, she’s still all Justin Bieber fangirl, and then the switch flips 2-3 minutes before she’s on the blocks and it’s all business from there. Reports coming out of the WC training camp seemed to be both that she was ready to turn in some amazing swims and that she was a joy to have as a teammate- always positive, always confident that she belonged at that level, and that it was easy to get caught up in her optimism even if you were personally having a bad day. She definitely doesn’t have Katie Hoff’s fragility at the same age.
She also turned down a good amount of money last spring for the overall domestic Grand Prix points lead. Dad’s a C-level business guy and mom’s a physician, so they can afford to keep her high school and college eligibility, even if she didn’t have a standing full ride offer from Cal or Georgia, who are supposed to be her top two college picks at this point.
By all accounts, she’s got a wonderful head for the sport- 15 minutes before a race, she’s still all Justin Bieber fangirl, and then the switch flips 2-3 minutes before she’s on the blocks and it’s all business from there. Reports coming out of the WC training camp seemed to be both that she was ready to turn in some amazing swims and that she was a joy to have as a teammate- always positive, always confident that she belonged at that level, and that it was easy to get caught up in her optimism even if you were personally having a bad day. She definitely doesn’t have Katie Hoff’s fragility at the same age.
She also turned down a good amount of money last spring for the overall domestic Grand Prix points lead. Dad’s a C-level business guy and mom’s a physician, so they can afford to keep her high school and college eligibility, even if she didn’t have a standing full ride offer from Cal or Georgia, who are supposed to be her top two college picks at this point.
That’s super cool. I’m talking about the fact that she appears to be well adjusted and has positive, supportive parents than I am the indications of her potential (though that’s awesome as well). There are lots of kids across sport that show great potential - but to have a kid with a good head on her shoulders as well as parents that understand the importance of education and a willingness to put her best interests first (as opposed to trying to cash in on her as a meal ticket) is just so great to hear. It sounds like she’s going to go far - both in the water as well as out.