Missy Franklin

Missy Franklin (born May 10, 1995, Pasadena, California, U.S.) is a former American swimmer who won five medals, including four golds, at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Franklin was born in California, but her family moved to Centennial, Colorado, where she began swimming at the age of five. By the time she was in her early teens, Franklin had set a number of national age-group records, and in 2009 she was named to the U.S. national youth team. The following year she joined the U.S. national team and competed at the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur; later called World Aquatics) short-course (25 meters) world championships, earning the silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke and securing another silver as part of the American 4 × 100-meter medley relay team.

It was not until the 2011 FINA world championships, however, that Franklin truly established herself as a major force in the sport. Her gold-medal-winning time (2 min 5.10 sec) in the 200-meter backstroke was the third fastest in the history of the event. She added another gold in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, helping the American women to victory with a remarkable leadoff swim (1 min 55.06 sec) that was actually half a second faster than the first-place finisher’s time in the individual 200-meter freestyle race. In addition, Franklin secured a third gold in the 4 × 100-meter medley relay, a silver in the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay, and a bronze in the 50-meter backstroke. Later in 2011, in the 200-meter backstroke at the short-course World Cup meet in Berlin, she achieved her first world record (2 min 0.03 sec). Two months later, at the 2011 Duel in the Pool short-course competition in Atlanta, she contributed to another world record (3 min 45.56 sec) in the women’s 4 × 100-meter medley relay.

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Franklin exceeded expectations at the 2012 London Olympic Games, taking gold in both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke events and winning the latter in world record time (2 min 4.06 sec). She helped set another world record (3 min 52.05 sec) in the 4 × 100-meter medley relay and secured a fourth gold in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay. She also earned a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay. In addition, Franklin made history by becoming the first American woman to swim in seven events at a single Games. She also had a record-setting performance at the 2013 world championships, where she became the first female swimmer to win six gold medals—in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, the 200-meter freestyle, the 4 ×100- and 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, and the 4 × 100-meter medley relay.

At the 2015 world championships, Franklin won gold medals as a member of the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay and the 4 × 100-meter freestyle mixed relay teams, as well as one silver (200-meter backstroke) and two bronzes (200-meter freestyle and 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay). She had a disappointing performance at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, winning just one medal: a gold for swimming in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay preliminary heat. In December 2018 Franklin retired from competitive swimming. Along with fellow Olympic swimmer Katie Hoff, Franklin hosts Unfiltered Waters (2023– ), an interview podcast focused on athletes and their stories.