Missy Franklin likes texting, dancing in her basement, and having sleepovers with her friends from Regis Jesuit High School. She also happens to be the best female swimmer in the world and is poised to take home multiple medals from the London Olympic Games this summer. Meet the new face of American athletics. (Read about Franklin here.)

Missy Franklin and her father, Dick. “Regardless of her swimming ability,” he says, “I could never have imagined having such an amazing kid. She brightens my life.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin has hundreds of trophies and medals around her home in Centennial. After she set her first world record last year—in the 200-meter, shortcourse backstroke—she pinned the medal on a wall in one of her rooms. “I said, ‘That’s a nice medal, Missy, where’d you get that one?’ ” her dad remembers. “Missy looked at me and said, ‘Oh, that’s the world record, Dad.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin set two world records as a 16-year-old and last year was named the world’s best female swimmer. Now, the Regis Jesuit High School student is poised for Olympic stardom this summer in London. By Bryce Boyer
Three years ago, a stroke analyist from USA Swimming met then-14-year-old Missy Franklin at a pool and shot video of her. Seeing the teenager for the first time, the man was stunned. Even at Missy’s age, he says, her stroke was “just so—ideal.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin is an all-American teenager. She keeps up with school work, has a boyfiend, and spends much of her time at home in Centennial with her parents, Dick and D.A. Franklin. By Bryce Boyer
“She has the most remarkable ability to make each race the most important thing in her life,” one of Missy Franklin’s coaches says of her. “It’s like nothing else exists.” By Bryce Boyer
5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez put on a Speedo and a cap and goggles for the first time so he could race Missy Franklin in the pool. “I wanted to understand what Missy looked like under water so I could convey that to readers,” Sanchez says. “It was beautiful.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin and 5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez prepare to dive into the pool. By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin and 5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez embrace after their race. Franklin swam twice Sanchez’s distance and still beat him by nearly two seconds. By Bryce Boyer
While she’s a prodigy in the pool, Missy Franklin has a typical teenage social life, too. The soon-to-be high school senior has a full load of classes—she carries a 3.9 grade point average—and a host of friends with whom she always stays in contact. By Bryce Boyer
5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez prepares to swim against swimming prodigy Missy Franklin. By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin and her father, Dick. “Regardless of her swimming ability,” he says, “I could never have imagined having such an amazing kid. She brightens my life.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin has hundreds of trophies and medals around her home in Centennial. After she set her first world record last year—in the 200-meter, shortcourse backstroke—she pinned the medal on a wall in one of her rooms. “I said, ‘That’s a nice medal, Missy, where’d you get that one?’ ” her dad remembers. “Missy looked at me and said, ‘Oh, that’s the world record, Dad.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin set two world records as a 16-year-old and last year was named the world’s best female swimmer. Now, the Regis Jesuit High School student is poised for Olympic stardom this summer in London. By Bryce Boyer
Three years ago, a stroke analyist from USA Swimming met then-14-year-old Missy Franklin at a pool and shot video of her. Seeing the teenager for the first time, the man was stunned. Even at Missy’s age, he says, her stroke was “just so—ideal.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin is an all-American teenager. She keeps up with school work, has a boyfiend, and spends much of her time at home in Centennial with her parents, Dick and D.A. Franklin. By Bryce Boyer
“She has the most remarkable ability to make each race the most important thing in her life,” one of Missy Franklin’s coaches says of her. “It’s like nothing else exists.” By Bryce Boyer
5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez put on a Speedo and a cap and goggles for the first time so he could race Missy Franklin in the pool. “I wanted to understand what Missy looked like under water so I could convey that to readers,” Sanchez says. “It was beautiful.” By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin and 5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez prepare to dive into the pool. By Bryce Boyer
Missy Franklin and 5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez embrace after their race. Franklin swam twice Sanchez’s distance and still beat him by nearly two seconds. By Bryce Boyer
While she’s a prodigy in the pool, Missy Franklin has a typical teenage social life, too. The soon-to-be high school senior has a full load of classes—she carries a 3.9 grade point average—and a host of friends with whom she always stays in contact. By Bryce Boyer
5280 senior staff writer Robert Sanchez prepares to swim against swimming prodigy Missy Franklin. By Bryce Boyer