Missy Franklin always dreamed of swimming in the Olympics. She never dreamed she would have to swim as much as she will Monday.
Franklin’s quest for her first individual Olympic medal comes almost directly on the heels of a semifinal in another event. She set that up by qualifying second in Sunday night’s semifinals of the 100-meter backstroke, where she had the top time in the world until an Aussie rose up to threaten her gold medal chances.
But before Franklin shoots for gold at 12:51 p.m. MDT on Monday, she swims the semifinals of the 200 freestyle at 12:30 p.m. This all comes after swimming the 200 freestyle prelim in the during what will be the early morning in Denver.
She swam the same schedule in Omaha at the Olympic trials and still won her backstroke event.
“I’m going to try to take it the exact same way,” Franklin said. “The chance of a warm-down is going to be a little bit lower than I had at trials. … I may not be able to warm down at all between races (Monday). But you know what? You’ve got to take what you have and make the best of it. That’s what I plan to do.”
She’ll have to beat Australia’s 20-year-old Emily Seebohm, who set an Olympic record in the morning prelims of 58.23 seconds and won’t have another race Monday. Russia’s Anastasia Zueva, who had the best time behind Franklin in both backstroke events coming into the Olympics, qualified fifth in 59.68.
Franklin swam 59.37 in the morning, her best in a prelim, and 59.12 in the evening semifinals. Her 58.85 at the Olympic trials was the fastest Olympic time in the world this year until Seebohm showed up Sunday.
“I’m thrilled,” Franklin said. “Second finals. I was faster than I was in prelims, so I’m excited.”
She may have to get out faster to beat Seebohm, 20,, the daughter of a swim coach who helped Australia win the 4×100 medley relay gold medal in 2004.
“That’s the way I’ve always swam it,” Franklin said of her slow starts and fast finishes. “That’s how I hit a 58.8, so as (coach) Todd (Schmitz) always says, ‘If it’s not broken, you don’t really have to fix it.’ But if I do want to be faster, I have to take it out (faster). I took it out this morning faster than I ever have before, and I have to channel that energy a little bit (Monday).”
John Henderson: 303-954-1299, jhenderson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnhendersondp
