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Colorado high schooler Missy Franklin is now two-for-two in individual Olympic-qualifying events, having finished second in the 200-meter freestyle Thursday night at the swim trials in Omaha, Nebraska.
The 17-year-old from Centennial finished her only race of the night in 1:56.79, two seconds behind Allison Schmitt, who set an American record. Franklin—who swims both for the Colorado Stars club team and Regis Jesuit High School—is still scheduled to swim the 200-meter backstroke, the 100-meter freestyle, and the 50-meter freestyle before the trials end on Monday. In addition to the 200-free and 100-back—which she qualified for earlier in the week—she also qualified for a spot on the 800-meter freestyle relay team.
Her mother, DA Franklin, has said that Franklin might not swim the 50-freestyle, which is scheduled near the end of the seven-day trials, and her coach told the Denver Post on Thursday that Franklin might scrap the 200-freestyle in London because of the need to keep the teenager fresh for other races. In addition to Franklin’s individual events, she’s a favorite to swim in three relays.
I profiled Franklin in this June’s issue of 5280. During a meet in Austin, Texas, I asked three-time Olympic gold medal winner—and NBC’s swimming guru—Rowdy Gaines about Franklin’s chances in London: “This kind of talent doesn’t come around often,” Gaines told me. “She could swim seven events [in the Olympics] this year—and she could medal in all of them—which is unheard of. She has the whole package….”
Franklin could swim the 100-meter freestyle twice today at trials. The Olympic-qualifying race for that event is Saturday.