Missy Franklin’s final season of high school swimming is all about “team.” Despite winning 4 Olympic gold medals and being the best high school swimmer in the country (and one of the best swimmers in the world), she came back for her senior year to be a part of a team, and that began last night as she kicked-off her final season against Highlands Ranch.
In deference to the team attitude, Franklin swam two off-events at this meet to give her coach, Nick Frasersmith, as many options as possible headed toward February’s State Championship meet. Franklin put up state qualifying times in all four swims: the 200 IM (2:02.1), the 500 free (4:57.7), the 50 free (23.3), and the 100 free (51.5); the last two of those were done in relay leadoffs.
For anyone unfamiliar with the high school schedule in the United States, the final three of those events were swum in rapid succession. Note that the boys’ and girls’ high school seasons are separate, so there were no extra heats as Franklin hopped straight from the 500 free to the 200 free relay, then with two events off back into the 400 free relay.
Other good swims for Regis Jesuit include sophomore Taylor Wilson, who put up a 55.69 to win the 100 free – clearing the state qualifying mark in pretty heavy training. Among the top performers for Highlands Ranch is Gabrielle Liedy, who won the 200 free in 2:01.59.
e crowds came out as they always do for Franklin, who has become an idol to throngs of young swim fans. Estimates put between 250-300 fans at the meet, which is huge for a high school dual.
Regis Jesuit will be back at home next Tuesday as they take on their huge rivals from Cherry Creek at 4:30. This meet has an intense history that was forged in fire in Franklin’s sophomore season in 2011. There, Regis knocked off Cherry Creek at the 5A State Championship meet to break a streak of 6-straight state titles. At that meet, expect two different events from Franklin (if we had to guess, the 100 back and the 200 free will be coming up) to get two more state-meet qualifying times.
The final score of the meet was 227.5-88.5 in favor of Regis.
enjoy this short story… i sat with my swimmers one practice during a break. i asked them, “what does ‘no child left behind’ mean to you?” (i was referencing gov’t programs)
the swimmers responded, “it means that being excellent at something is less important than making sure everyone everyone is at the same level.”
pretty prophetic for children to state.
today’s society is dominated by the “no child left behind” parents. parents who want to make sure getting a participation award is more important than being awarded for actually achieving something you had to work for.
maybe these parents were lousy athletes, or not athletes at all. maybe these parents were the 2nd or 3rd string kid who didn’t… Read more »
In all fairness, Swim Coach, not everyone who “works hard” or busts their butt in the pool every day becomes a champion, and particularly a champion at Missy’s level. I have personally seen many, many kids who NEVER miss a practice, work harder than ANYONE else in the pool at practice, sacrifice like crazy, but when it comes to racing or getting faster, it just NEVER happens, or they hit a very long plateau, and never progress any further.
The 3 kids you mentioned – Franklin, Smoliga, and Conger also have an extraordinary “gift” which allows them to do what they do in the pool. That is not to say that they don’t train REALLY HARD, but most kids… Read more »
momo:
not really sure what your point is?
my point is missy (and others at her level) has just as much right to compete for her high school as long as she (and others like her) are eligible to do so.
its appears to me that there are those who are more upset that their child isn’t going to win an event at a high school meet. these are the same parents who think everyone should get 1st place, everyone is a winner. this is competitive swimming, not recreational swimming. the faster athlete will win… period.
regarding the comment about height, sure it can matter a little (no pun intended). but “its the size of the fight in the… Read more »
And – It continues – Wow
http://tinyurl.com/aq2hljk
The comments from the Cherry Creek swimmers and parents are pretty damning and certainly don’t paint them in a good light. Good thing that Internet articles disappear permanently and there aren’t any tools to access them later.
I recall friends in their 20s (far from middle age) who laughed wistfully about having raced future Olympians, or played against future NFL and NBA players. Sure they good smoked, but it was more about perspective and the joy of competition, something some of today’s parents and kids lack.
As a parent, one of my favorite high school dual meets was against a school with an amazing swimmer who went on to receive a full D1 scholarship. The girls on our team were all anxious about having to swim the 500 against this girl – knowing she was an incredible athlete. Everyone knew they were going to be lapped – but how many times? My daughter was second place and almost lapped twice. Unexpectedly the entire audience (we were the visiting team so only about a dozen parents from our team) stood up and applauded my daughter (over 200 people). (My daughter lapped the rest of the field at least twice). When the event was over, my daughter was… Read more »
Wow! Too funny to read this debate! It looks like this mom doesn’t like very much Missy. And it also looks like she’s very jealous. Can somebody explain me what is an helicopter mom? Helicopter or not this mom needs a big psychological treatment.
Bobo, a “helicopter parent” is someone who constantly “hovers” over their children, never letting them do anything on their own (or one who constantly steps in to fight their battles for them, etc.) Unbelievably, there are parents out there who still “call in sick” for their kids 25 yrs. old + and who offer to talk to their boss when “Snookums” is having a hard time at their job or with their co-workers. Yes, you are right, they need psychiatric help all right!
Thank you. I have learned what is a helicopter mom. I didn’t know this English expression.
Well, I swam for Golden West Community College and their is recruiting now at the JC’s. When I swam there were no swimmers from South America or Water Polo players form Eastern Europe. Its changed a lot.
Well, in the 1960’s Mark Spitz swam for Santa Clara high school in those days that high school clubbed the competition because they usually had more than one national caliber swimmer. Same does for Indian River Community College that recruits swimmers that could be on a NCCA 1 team.
Best thing I heard someone say “You shouldn’t have to apologize for being good.”
Is this about our children or our jealous parents? Parents….grow up…..Missy is great….deal with it!!!!