2015 Swammy Awards: Missy Franklin, NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year

Check out all of our 2015 Swammy Awards here.

2015 NCAA Female Swimmer of the Year Missy Franklin

Missy Franklin had always targeted 2015 as her final year of collegiate swimming. With that in mind, the U.S. Olympian went out with a bang.

Missy Franklin 200 backstroke prelims 2015 Santa Clara Pro Swim (photo: Mike Lewis, Ola Vista Photography)

Franklin went 3-for-3 in NCAA titles, leading the California women to an overall national title, and she came up with arguably the most explosive swim of the meet in her American record 200 freestyle.

A year removed from a disappointing 2014 NCAAs from the Cal women, Franklin led the way to redemption in 2015 as Cal’s juggernaut rolled away with the team trophy. It was a breakthrough for Franklin personally as well. After swimming right on the cusp of the 1:40-barrier in the 200 free multiple times as a freshman, Franklin blasted past the barrier in her second and final NCAA season, going 1:39.10 in one of the best races of the entire year.

Franklin rolled the field by more than two full seconds in that race, and her other swims were nearly as dominant. She won the 200 back by 2.4 seconds, going 1:47.91 (and rattling the American record there as well) and took the 200 IM in 1:52.11 – outside of her own teammate Liz Pelton, the closest finisher to Franklin in that race was 2.3 seconds back.

In between, Franklin came up with explosive splits on the 400 medley relay (anchoring in 45.9), 200 free relay  (21.2), 800 free relay (a field-best 1:40.0) and 400 free relay (a 46.6 leadoff that beat Stanford Olympian Lia Neal).

All in all, Franklin exited the NCAA with the type of national championships showing Cal fans dreamed of when she committed to the Berkeley program back in 2012.

Honorable Mention

In no particular order:

Kelsi Worrell (Courtesy of Mike Lewis)

• Kelsi Worrell, Louisville: If anyone could challenge Franklin’s 200 free for the title of “most jaw-dropping race of 2015” in this category, its’ Worrell’s 100 fly. The Lousville Cardinal became the first woman ever under 50 seconds with a 49.81 American record. For good measure, Worrell also casually won the NCAA title in the 200 fly, a race she barely swam all year.
• Leah Smith, Virginia: Though the buzz during the conference rounds was all about the NCAA record set by Cal’s Cierra Runge, it was Smith who doubled in the 500 and 1650 frees at NCAAs, leading Virginia to a 5th-place finish overall.
• Simone Manuel, Stanford: The stud freshman of the NCAA doubled up in the sprints, winning the 50 free and 100 free and breaking an American record in the latter. Manuel was also just .05 off of doubling up in national records, with her 50 free rattling Lara Jackson’s mark.