Franklin relishes facing hero
She enjoys push from Coughlin
OMAHA — Missy Franklin hates homework. What redblooded American high school student doesn’t? But she enjoys hard work, the kind that comes in swimming pools, which is one reason she could emerge as America’s sweetheart this summer.
Here is what Franklin, 17, will be thinking about when she swims in the U.S. Olympic trials that begin today: her 5-year-old self.
“Every time I swim, I make sure that I am remembering that little 5-year-old on her summer club swim team who just loved going out there and being with her friends,” she said Sunday. “And I’m swimming for that girl. I’m swimming for the one who just loves swimming with her whole heart.”
Franklin is seeded second in Tuesday’s 100-meter backstroke, behind her childhood hero, Natalie Coughlin.
“I love racing against Natalie,” Franklin said. “She pushes me to a whole different level. And just watching her swim is so incredible. So to actually be swimming with her, it’s such an honor.”
Coughlin, 29, emerged on the international scene in the world championships in 2001, when Franklin was 6. Coughlin has won 11 medals in 11 Olympic races and needs two more in London to become history’s most decorated American female Olympian.
“I don’t mean to be standing in front of her goals by any means,” Franklin said. “We all have different goals, and I think that we both want each other to achieve those goals and maybe we can do that together.”
Franklin carried a heavy academic load during her recently completed junior year at Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.), where she excels academically despite a stated aversion to homework and “big tests.” Todd Schmitz, her coach, said many athletes preferred a lighter load in an Olympic year but he and her parents preferred normalcy.
She plans to return for her senior year, and then college, rather than turn pro: She likes being on teams, as she did at 5.
U.S. women’s coach Teri McKeever coached Coughlin at California. Coaches can talk to recruits beginning July 1, but McKeever won’t try recruiting Franklin, or anyone else, until after the Games. Franklin said other coaches pledged to leave her alone until then as well. Fair warning to McKeever: Stanford is on her list.
McKeever thinks Franklin can have a career like Coughlin’s: “If we do this right, Missy is going to be a figure like a Ryan (Lochte) or a Natalie or a Michael (Phelps). . . . I think Missy has the potential of having her be on multiple Olympic teams and help the U.S. not just for the next month but hopefully the next generation.”