{"id":138661,"date":"2015-06-22T10:23:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T17:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=138661"},"modified":"2015-06-22T10:24:23","modified_gmt":"2015-06-22T17:24:23","slug":"missy-franklins-love-of-swimming-hasnt-changed-as-pro-athlete-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/missy-franklins-love-of-swimming-hasnt-changed-as-pro-athlete-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Missy Franklin’s Love Of Swimming Hasn’t Changed As Pro Athlete (Video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editorial content for the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Santa Clara is sponsored by Arena<\/a>. For full Swimming World coverage, check out our coverage page<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Missy Franklin<\/strong> has been a professional swimmer for three months, and the Santa Clara stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series was her first opportunity to collect prize money for her performances in the pool. She collected $600 in her only competition in this Arena Pro Swim Series, though more awaits later this summer at the world championships.<\/p>\n

Earning money and securing a sponsorship with Speedo<\/a> are great perks for Franklin, but she told members of the media recently during a press conference that she\u2019s still the same person that became a fan favorite many years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big transition, but the reason why I\u2019m swimming hasn\u2019t changed, and it never will,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n

Franklin made her intentions to turn pro known when she made a verbal commitment to attend the University of California-Berkeley almost three years ago. The plan was to compete collegiately for two seasons, then forgo her remaining two years of eligibility as she looked ahead to the Rio Olympics in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went out to lunch with one of my best friends when I got home (to Colorado), and we were joking that it\u2019s so weird that I\u2019m finally professional,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cIn our minds it always feels like it\u2019s two years away. You have an idea what to expect, but you really don\u2019t once it actually happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franklin has been busy in the past three months, including becoming the Grandmaster of USA Swimming\u2019s SwimJitsu campaign<\/a>. Though demands on her time were always prevalent when she was an \u201camateur\u201d athlete, it\u2019s likely grown with her new professional status.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be exciting to figure out how to manage all of this stuff, with training and making sure I\u2019m swimming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Franklin returned to Colorado to train with her coach Todd Schmitz and get ready for the world championships in Russia this August. But, like many of her caliber, she knows the Olympic Games is not far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis summer is important,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll still have very high goals for myself, but the big picture is Olympic Trials next summer. Worlds will be a good check-in going into next summer.\u201d<\/p>\n