By David Rieder<\/i><\/p>\n
DURHAM \u2212 When Missy Franklin committed to swim for California in the fall of 2012, she made quickly made it clear that she would just compete collegiately for two years before turning pro. At that point, Cal was coming off two straight NCAA team titles, but they have not finished in the top spot since. This week, then, will be Franklin’s final chance to lead the Golden Bears to a national crown.<\/p>\n
When she sent in her letter of intent, Franklin was the darling of not just the swimming world but also the general public, having just rolled through the London Olympics to the tune of five medals, four of them gold. She came back a year later to put on a dominant performance at the World Championships in Barcelona, where she won six gold medals and just missed another medal with a fourth-place effort in the 100 free.<\/p>\n
When she arrived in Berkeley a month later, no one doubted Franklin as the best swimmer in the world. For all the hype around Laure Manaudou, Katie Hoff, Stephanie Rice, and Kirsty Coventry before her, and Katie Ledecky and Katinka Hosszu after her, none of the aforementioned five had earned long course world titles in two different disciplines in one meet, and certainly not while winning her best event (200 back) by two seconds.<\/p>\n
So what did people expect for her first season in college? No one really knew for sure, since Franklin had always excelled more at long course than at short course, and the NCAA event schedule did not cater to her strengths; specifically, the 200 free and 100 back would be contested on the same day with just one event in between, making that double impractical. She would have to move outside her most comfortable events and swim either the 500 free or 200 IM.<\/p>\n
Franklin and coach Teri McKeever picked the 500, and the move almost paid off to the max. Franklin looked like she had her first NCAA title locked up until Brittany MacLean charged from a half-second back on the last 50 to steal the win. Franklin did put on a show in the 200 free, as her winning time of 1:40.31 beat the then-fastest time ever by almost a second, but Franklin did not get the chance to push for an NCAA title in her best event.<\/p>\n
McKeever entered Franklin in the 100 free instead of the 200 back since she could plug in American record-holder Elizabeth Pelton in the latter event. That gamble did not pay dividends as Pelton came in three one-hundredths behind Snodgrass in the 200 back (and almost three seconds off her record pace), and minutes later, Franklin did not have enough room to Margo Geer or Lia Neal in a tight 100 free final.<\/p>\n
For the first time in years, Franklin was NOT the big story at NCAAs, as it was MacLean and her two individual titles (she also won the 1500 free) leading Georgia to the team crown. Cal ended up in third, 142 points behind the Bulldogs and 17.5 behind their cross-bay rivals, the Stanford Cardinal.<\/p>\n
Certain strategies did not pay off at NCAAs, but make no mistake: Georgia (and Stanford) defeated Cal with greater depth. Franklin by no means swam poorly at that meet in Minneapolis. But months later, a painful back injury derailed her campaign for a large stack of medals at the Pan Pacific Championships on the Gold Coast. Individually, Franklin returned from Australia with just one bronze medal.<\/p>\n
The NCAA Championships in Greensboro will mark Franklin’s first taper meet since the debacle down under, and it comes at a perfect time, as she tries to lead her bears back to the top. This year, Franklin and McKeever have switched the strategy, entering Franklin in the 200 IM, 200 free, and 200 back. She will be heavily favored in the 200 free, and she ranks second to Pelton this year in her other two events.<\/p>\n
Certainly, Franklin won’t be carrying this year’s Cal team on its back; the Bears have seen a rebound season from Pelton, the arrival of distance stud Cierra Runge, and the emergence of sophomores Farida Osman and Celina Li as key contributors. They still have Rachel Bootsma, who, along with Pelton, will score big points in the 100 back as Franklin concentrates on the 200 free.<\/p>\n