Streamlined News: Franklin and Schmitz React to Shooting; Kobe Bryant Meets Stephanie Rice; Olympic Torch Reaches London

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 20. AS nearly everyone in the United States and around the world knows, at least 12 are dead and many more wounded after a man opened fire at a midnight showing of the new movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado, just outside of Denver. Swimming fans will recognize the city as the hometown of Olympian Missy Franklin and her coach, Todd Schmitz. The two are in France right now at the Olympic training camp in Vichy, France, and they went to Twitter to express their thoughts on the incident.

“Praying for everyone hurt and affected by the theater shooting in Aurora,” Franklin wrote. “I'm in total disbelief and shock. Things happen so quickly.”

About an hour later, Schmitz posted on his Twitter page: “My thoughts are with everyone back in my home of Aurora Colorado.”

The two are part of the Colorado Stars swim team, which is based in Aurora. Names of victims of the shooting have not been released, so no word if Franklin or Schmitz have any personal connection to the tragedy.

Yesterday the Australians got a big surprise at their training camp in Manchester, England. Kobe Bryant stopped by the pool to greet the Aussies during their swim practice, and made a connection with Stephanie Rice, who Bryant said was a favorite swimmer of his daughter. Rice gave Bryant a signed cap, and Bryant gave Rice a pair of his shoes, which Rice joked to the media might be too big to fit in her suitcase. Many members of the Australian team also went to an exhibition basketball game in Manchester between the United States and Great Britain.

We're now exactly one week away from the opening ceremony at the Olympics, and today, the Olympic Flame will finally arrive in London after 63 days of travel from ancient Olympia in Greece to the British capital. The flame will light the Olympic cauldron next Friday sometime during the opening ceremony.

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