Although this past Olympics displayed the lasting greatness and eventual farewell of arguably the greatest Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, it also gave way to an emerging swimmer that looks to take a path similar to Phelps’s.
Missy Franklin, 17, recently had an incredible debut in London, taking four gold medals and a bronze. In 2004, a 19-year-old Phelps took six gold’s and two bronze’s.
Franklin may be off pace a bit, but there is no reason to think she won’t be bringing the U.S. an amount of medals near Phelps’s total.
In London, besides her five medals, Franklin missed the medal stand by one-one hundredth in the 200-meter freestyle and also missed the stand in the 100-meter freestyle.
At the age of 17, she is definitely on pace to compete in at least seven events in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and most likely another seven or more in 2020. By then, she would be just 25 years old. A remarkable fourth Olympics could be possible if she desired, at the age of 29.
Essentially, Franklin has the potential and youth to become the female version of the greatest Olympian of all time.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
