Franklin, Missy

Missy Franklin, in full Melissa Jeanette Franklin, (born May 10, 1995, Pasadena, California, U.S.), 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 short-course (25-metres) world championships, earning the silver medal in the 200-metre backstroke and securing another silver as part of the American 4 × 100-metre 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-metre backstroke was the third fastest in the history of the event. She added another gold in the 4 × 200-metre 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-metre freestyle race. In addition, Franklin secured a third gold in the 4 × 100-metre medley relay, a silver in the 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay, and a bronze in the 50-metre backstroke. Later in 2011, in the 200-metre 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-metre medley relay.

Franklin exceeded expectations at the 2012 London Olympics, taking gold in both the 100- and 200-metre 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-metre medley relay and secured a fourth gold in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay. She also earned a bronze medal in the 4 × 100-metre 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-metre backstroke, the 200-metre freestyle, the 4 ×100- and 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay, and the 4 × 100-metre medley relay.

At the 2015 world championships, Franklin won gold medals as a member of the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay and the 4 × 100-metre freestyle mixed relay teams, as well as one silver (200-metre backstroke) and two bronzes (200-metre freestyle and 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay). She had a disappointing performance at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, winning just one medal: a gold for swimming in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay preliminary heat. In December 2018 Franklin retired from competitive swimming.