where legends are made

Celia Brown – Missy Franklin

  • June 14th, 2021

What does it mean to be a professional athlete? What does it mean to be an Olympian? Missy Franklin—a five-time gold medalist—knows what it means. Missy Franklin made her debut onto the Olympic scene and has since made fans all over the world. Not only do her broken records and Olympic medals draw people’s attention, her kind heart and strong attitude have people falling in love with more than just her talent. Swimming has had such a big impact on Franklin’s life, changing it forever. Now as a retired athlete, wife, and soon-to-be mom, she reflects on her career as a swimmer and all it has contributed to her life. Franklin was born in California on May IO 1995, soon after her parents moved her to Centennial, Colorado where she started her swimming journey at the age of five. Franklin’s talent of swimming came soon after she started, as she began to break several state and national records as a teenager.

As an only child, Missy’s parents were already very invested in her life. She is their everything. When she started swimming and that became her true passion, of course her parents undoubtedly supported her. “l thought about my parents,” says Franklin, now eighteen. “l thought about how much they love me, how much I love them, and how, no matter what happens in the next minute, none of that will change. Then I took a deep breath. And the pressure was gone” (Missy Franklin). Thinking about being an athlete myself, it may be unusual for some to use their parents as a way to calm their nerves or make them feel better before a race. For most it is teammates or friends and of course usually coaches. For Missy it was her parents. ”There is no blueprint for how to raise a four-time Olympic champion, much less one who earns nearly straight A’s and spends her free time visiting children’s hospitals,” says ESPN Senior writer, Wayne Drehs. Missy set her parents up well to be supportive of her, all of the great things she was doing could not go unrecognized by them, she knew how much they had her back. Dick Franklin, Missy’s dad has spent most of his life as a successful corporate executive. “Today he’s teasing Missy about how great his life was before she arrived. The multiple houses, the Porsche, the vacations to Tahiti, Hawaii and Key West. ‘And then this happened,’ Dick says, motioning to the Olympic champion in the backseat” (Drehs). Dick and his wife did not see this coming when they had Missy. They were both normal working adults, had a child, and are now the parents of a champion.

As a swimmer myself, I know how much dedication the sport takes. From a young age Franklin was spending most of her time in the pool, both training and racing. Franklin is an only child of her parents Dick and DA Franklin. Her mother had her start swimming lessons at a young age, as she was very concerned with water safety, little did she know how comfortable with the water Missy would be. Missy Franklin holds both Olympic and national records, but they didn’t come easy. Missy continued swimming for her club team in Colorado until she reached high school where she attended the Regis Jesuit High School. After graduating high school and training more than ever before, she started at University of California, Berkeley on an athletic scholarship, and she began training with the California Golden Bears team leading her into her true swimming career. From there, she took off. Greg Couch, a writer for athletes, writes, “She seemingly came out of nowhere to enter our national consciousness at the 2012 London Games as the picture of American power, grace, wholesomeness and athleticism. She broke records and won four gold medals. She was a natural. She was an instant star.” It didn’t stop here, Franklin continued to win. It wasn’t until the 2011 FINA world championships when she won a gold medal in the 200 meter backstroke, with the time of 2 minutes and 5.10 seconds, making her the third fastest in the event. Franklin went on to get another gold medal in the 200 free relay along with her teammates, contributing the American women to win the meet. This swim was impressive as her time of one minute 55.06 seconds was actually half a second faster than the first-place swimmers time in the individual 200 meter freestyle race. Franklin goes to win five medals at the World Aquatics Championships to help Shanghai. “The tally included three gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. She broke her own national record by clocking 2:05.10 in the final of the 200-meter backstroke event. This was also Franklin’s first individual world title” (TheFamousPeople). Franklin then went on and won more races making her the first woman to qualify for seven Olympic events. In her first Olympic race, a relay, she won a bronze medal, and she then went on to win three gold medals in individual events, the 100 back, 200 back and 4×200 freestyle relay.

Missy Franklin has had a successful career of swimming. In December of 2019, she made the decision to retire from being a professional athlete. “One of the hardest things about retirement is having a lot of people ask – and I know they don’t always mean it negatively – but there’s this connotation of, ‘What are you going to do now?'” Franklin told The Associated Press during a recent interview. “People are assuming that I’ve already peaked” (The Denver Post). Missy is only twenty-four and feels like she is just now starting her life, because she is. With so many titles and so many events already accomplished in her life, most assume she is done living, which is far from true. “I would’ve loved to keep going as a swimmer,” Franklin said. “But I know I made the right decision” (Missy Franklin). Missy was ready to start the next chapter in her life. There are many parts of life as a professional athlete that the fans and the press don’t see. Missy says, “It’s really easy to inspire people in success and when you’re doing well. It’s really hard to inspire people when you’re failing, when you’re falling on your butt,” she said. “Now I have to show up and be that person I always said I wanted to be in a situation like this.” After doing this for many years, and also transitioning from a teenager to an adult at the same time, it has been enough. Missy still swims for herself and that is all that matters. The career of swimming wasn’t going to last her whole life.

Looking back at the question at hand earlier, what does it mean to be a professional athlete? Being a professional athlete means having endurance, strength, and not the kind you are thinking of. Strength to keep going when you are facing challenges, the ability to fail and be ok with that. And lastly, the courage to walk away from something when it is too much and feels like it is over. Swimming has had such an impact on every aspect of Missy Franklin’s life and made her an amazing person in many ways.

 

 

Drehs, Wayne. “Exceptionally Normal.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 28 June 2013,
www.espn.com/espnw/story/Jid/9432087/olympic-swimmer-missy-franklin-had-ordinary-life-thanks-parents-espn-magazine.

Drehs, Wayne. “Missy Franklin Reflects on Her ‘Insane’ Year.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 3 Dec. 2012, www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/ Jid/8677126/ olym pic-swimmer-m issy-frank Ii n-ha d-sLu-real-summer-london-espn-magazine-interview-issue.

Hollar, Sherman. “Missy Franklin.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, lnc., 6 May 2020, www.britannica.com/hiography/Missy-Franklin.

Newberry, Paul. “Missy Franklin ‘so Grateful,” Embraces Life after Swimming.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 12 Dec. 2019, www.denverpost.com/2019/ 12/11 /missy-franklin-life-after-swimming/.

“Who Is Missy Franklin? Everything You Need to Know.” Facts, Childhood, Family Life of Swimmer & Olympic Champion, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/missy-franklin-157l6.php.

Categories: Uncategorized

Celia Brown – Missy Franklin

  • June 14th, 2021

What does it mean to be a professional athlete? What does it mean to be an Olympian? Missy Franklin—a five-time gold medalist—knows what it means. Missy Franklin made her debut onto the Olympic scene and has since made fans all over the world. Not only do her broken records and Olympic medals draw people’s attention, her kind heart and strong attitude have people falling in love with more than just her talent. Swimming has had such a big impact on Franklin’s life, changing it forever. Now as a retired athlete, wife, and soon-to-be mom, she reflects on her career as a swimmer and all it has contributed to her life. Franklin was born in California on May IO 1995, soon after her parents moved her to Centennial, Colorado where she started her swimming journey at the age of five. Franklin’s talent of swimming came soon after she started, as she began to break several state and national records as a teenager.

As an only child, Missy’s parents were already very invested in her life. She is their everything. When she started swimming and that became her true passion, of course her parents undoubtedly supported her. “l thought about my parents,” says Franklin, now eighteen. “l thought about how much they love me, how much I love them, and how, no matter what happens in the next minute, none of that will change. Then I took a deep breath. And the pressure was gone” (Missy Franklin). Thinking about being an athlete myself, it may be unusual for some to use their parents as a way to calm their nerves or make them feel better before a race. For most it is teammates or friends and of course usually coaches. For Missy it was her parents. ”There is no blueprint for how to raise a four-time Olympic champion, much less one who earns nearly straight A’s and spends her free time visiting children’s hospitals,” says ESPN Senior writer, Wayne Drehs. Missy set her parents up well to be supportive of her, all of the great things she was doing could not go unrecognized by them, she knew how much they had her back. Dick Franklin, Missy’s dad has spent most of his life as a successful corporate executive. “Today he’s teasing Missy about how great his life was before she arrived. The multiple houses, the Porsche, the vacations to Tahiti, Hawaii and Key West. ‘And then this happened,’ Dick says, motioning to the Olympic champion in the backseat” (Drehs). Dick and his wife did not see this coming when they had Missy. They were both normal working adults, had a child, and are now the parents of a champion.

As a swimmer myself, I know how much dedication the sport takes. From a young age Franklin was spending most of her time in the pool, both training and racing. Franklin is an only child of her parents Dick and DA Franklin. Her mother had her start swimming lessons at a young age, as she was very concerned with water safety, little did she know how comfortable with the water Missy would be. Missy Franklin holds both Olympic and national records, but they didn’t come easy. Missy continued swimming for her club team in Colorado until she reached high school where she attended the Regis Jesuit High School. After graduating high school and training more than ever before, she started at University of California, Berkeley on an athletic scholarship, and she began training with the California Golden Bears team leading her into her true swimming career. From there, she took off. Greg Couch, a writer for athletes, writes, “She seemingly came out of nowhere to enter our national consciousness at the 2012 London Games as the picture of American power, grace, wholesomeness and athleticism. She broke records and won four gold medals. She was a natural. She was an instant star.” It didn’t stop here, Franklin continued to win. It wasn’t until the 2011 FINA world championships when she won a gold medal in the 200 meter backstroke, with the time of 2 minutes and 5.10 seconds, making her the third fastest in the event. Franklin went on to get another gold medal in the 200 free relay along with her teammates, contributing the American women to win the meet. This swim was impressive as her time of one minute 55.06 seconds was actually half a second faster than the first-place swimmers time in the individual 200 meter freestyle race. Franklin goes to win five medals at the World Aquatics Championships to help Shanghai. “The tally included three gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal. She broke her own national record by clocking 2:05.10 in the final of the 200-meter backstroke event. This was also Franklin’s first individual world title” (TheFamousPeople). Franklin then went on and won more races making her the first woman to qualify for seven Olympic events. In her first Olympic race, a relay, she won a bronze medal, and she then went on to win three gold medals in individual events, the 100 back, 200 back and 4×200 freestyle relay.

Missy Franklin has had a successful career of swimming. In December of 2019, she made the decision to retire from being a professional athlete. “One of the hardest things about retirement is having a lot of people ask – and I know they don’t always mean it negatively – but there’s this connotation of, ‘What are you going to do now?'” Franklin told The Associated Press during a recent interview. “People are assuming that I’ve already peaked” (The Denver Post). Missy is only twenty-four and feels like she is just now starting her life, because she is. With so many titles and so many events already accomplished in her life, most assume she is done living, which is far from true. “I would’ve loved to keep going as a swimmer,” Franklin said. “But I know I made the right decision” (Missy Franklin). Missy was ready to start the next chapter in her life. There are many parts of life as a professional athlete that the fans and the press don’t see. Missy says, “It’s really easy to inspire people in success and when you’re doing well. It’s really hard to inspire people when you’re failing, when you’re falling on your butt,” she said. “Now I have to show up and be that person I always said I wanted to be in a situation like this.” After doing this for many years, and also transitioning from a teenager to an adult at the same time, it has been enough. Missy still swims for herself and that is all that matters. The career of swimming wasn’t going to last her whole life.

Looking back at the question at hand earlier, what does it mean to be a professional athlete? Being a professional athlete means having endurance, strength, and not the kind you are thinking of. Strength to keep going when you are facing challenges, the ability to fail and be ok with that. And lastly, the courage to walk away from something when it is too much and feels like it is over. Swimming has had such an impact on every aspect of Missy Franklin’s life and made her an amazing person in many ways.

 

 

Drehs, Wayne. “Exceptionally Normal.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 28 June 2013,
www.espn.com/espnw/story/Jid/9432087/olympic-swimmer-missy-franklin-had-ordinary-life-thanks-parents-espn-magazine.

Drehs, Wayne. “Missy Franklin Reflects on Her ‘Insane’ Year.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 3 Dec. 2012, www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/ Jid/8677126/ olym pic-swimmer-m issy-frank Ii n-ha d-sLu-real-summer-london-espn-magazine-interview-issue.

Hollar, Sherman. “Missy Franklin.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, lnc., 6 May 2020, www.britannica.com/hiography/Missy-Franklin.

Newberry, Paul. “Missy Franklin ‘so Grateful,” Embraces Life after Swimming.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 12 Dec. 2019, www.denverpost.com/2019/ 12/11 /missy-franklin-life-after-swimming/.

“Who Is Missy Franklin? Everything You Need to Know.” Facts, Childhood, Family Life of Swimmer & Olympic Champion, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/missy-franklin-157l6.php.