Franklin returns to her roots to prepare for Rio

SINGAPORE: Like any University student taking a year off from study, Missy Franklin wanted to see the world, broadening her horizons in new and exotic locations.
She’s managed to do that, but not quite the same way as most other students on sabbatical. There’s no trekking with backpacks or sleeping in youth hostels for this American.
As one of the world’s best swimmers, everything Franklin is doing right now is part of an intricate plan to prepare herself for next year’s Rio Olympics.
That’s the sole reason she decided to take a break from her studies at Berkeley College in California and return to her roots in Colorado.
And that’s also why she’s spent parts of the last few months traveling to eastern Europe and Asia, not to fill her passport with stamps, but to toughen herself up for Rio.
Just 17 at the time, Franklin was one of the stars of the 2012 London Olympics, winning four gold medals and millions of hearts with her innocent enthusiasm.
Riding the crest of wave, she won six gold medals at the 2013 world championships in Barcelona, then waved goodbye to her home and swim squad in Colorado to take up a scholarship at Berkeley.
At this year’s world championships in Russia, she won two gold medals in relay, but none in the individual backstroke events she had monopolized in previous years.
There were some extenuating circumstances but everything led her to the realization that she needed to make some big changes if she wanted to get back to the top in Rio.
So, at age 20, Franklin decided to turn professional, enabling her to accept prize money and endorsements, and headed straight back to Colorado, under the tutelage of her childhood coach Todd Schmitz.
She plans to go back to college but this next year is all about getting ready for the Olympics.
“It was so hard because my life is out in Cal now,” Franklin told Reuters in a candid interview during the Singapore leg of swimming’s World Cup series.
“My family’s out there and Teri’s been like a second mom to me so it was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, and the biggest sacrifice I’ve ever had to make.”