Melissa Janette Franklin is an American swimmer who was named to the US Olympic team for the 2012 London Games. This spring, Missy turned 17, but she is already a very famous person among the fastest swimmers on the planet and is considered the favorite in the fight for Olympic medals in several disciplines.
Melissa won her first international award two years ago at the World Short Course Swimming Championships. In the 200-meter backstroke swim, she showed the second result. In the same place, Franklin received a silver award for participating in the 4x100 meter relay. The following year, Melissa competed in the World Championships on 50-meter long tracks and achieved very significant results, winning bronze, silver and three gold medals. After these competitions, the 16-year-old American was named the best swimmer in the world in 2011 according to the official magazine of the International Swimming Federation FINA Aquatics World Magazine.
Only after all these high-profile victories did Melissa achieve two top titles in the US national championship - in the summer of 2011, she became the champion in swimming 100 meters freestyle and backstroke. And at the end of the year Missy scored twice more. In October at the Swimming World Cup, she set a new world record in the 200m backstroke. Notably, this was the first worldwide achievement since the ban on high-tech swimwear in 2010. And in December, the second record took place, in which Franklin took part in the relay team of swimmers at a distance of 4x100 meters.
At the London Olympics, Melissa Franklin will start in seven swimming disciplines - four individual and three relay. The day after the opening ceremony, she won the bronze medal with the US 100m freestyle swimming relay team. At the same time, Missy completed her stage with the best personal time, and the American team set a national record. Franklin finished her first individual competition in London even more successfully - she won the final heat at a distance of 200 meters backstroke.