Sure, lots of swimmers have birthdays. Nay, all swimmers have birthdays. If you went around the world, you could probably peg a notable swimmer for every birthday of the year. But there are certain birthdays that really stand out. Every year when Dara Torres gets another year older, and is STILL in the top-10 swimmers in the country, it draws a collective jaw-drop from the swimming and general sports fandom. When Michael Phelps has a birthday, he’s one year closer to his self-imposed “I won’t swim past 30” age limit.
As this posts at 1-minute past midnight US Mountain Time, another one of those notable birthdays passes, as Missy Franklin goes from being the world’s fastest 15-year old to the world’s fastest 16-year old. Franklin is a swimmer who is among the most commonly associated with her age (“15-year old Missy Franklin”), simply because of how young she is. It’s time for all of us to flip our Franklin-calendars forward, and reset our tunes to “16-year old Missy Franklin”.
Franklin is the best female age-group swimmer of all-time, with 15 total individual National Age Group Records. Only Michael Phelps has more (20), and Franklin still has 3 full years left to chase him down. Sometimes, as I write-up meets, I catch myself saying “geeze, is she really still only 15?” It seems as though she’s been “just 15” for longer than a year, because of how good she is, how much she has accomplished, and how incredibly versatile she has become in the last year.
So what does the next year bring for Franklin? For starters, this summer’s World Championships in Shanghai. She’ll probably win the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. Elizabeth Beisel’s 200 back 15-16 NAG Record is definitely in danger, and Dagny Knutson’s mark in the 200 free could definitely go down as well, and if she doesn’t run out of time, maybe even Katie Hoff’s 200 IM record. Then in the spring, she’ll shoot for a spot on the 2012 Olympic team, where at only 16 she will be a candidate for as many as 6 or 7 swims as London.
Happy Birthday Missy!
Just watched the Charlotte vids…. She was far more gracious and was the ‘adult’ in congratulating her competitors—quite unlike Nat C….. What is that about, NC?!!?!?! When Missy F focuses on her underwater dolphin kick between the walls, she will literally clean-up the record books….. Go Girl, Go!!!!