The Psych Sheet

Franklin Contributes to US Win

Missy Franklin proved to be an asset as Team USA defeated the European stars in the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, which wrapped up earlier today in Manchester, England.

Franklin, 14, led off the Women’s 4X100M Free relay with a blistering 52.78, not only her personal best, but the 7^th fastest women’s 100M free swam worldwide in 2009. In fact, her time bested the American Record set in 2007 by Dara Torres, but that record had already been bettered the day before by Olympian and NCAA Swimmer of the Year Dana Vollmer, 22.

In the relay, Franklin had to go head-to-head with European Recordholder Francesca Halsall of Great Britain, but held her own, finishing just 1.2 seconds behind. Franklin was teamed with Vollmer, Amanda Weir and Christine Magnuson, and together the four beat the European relay team by 1.1 seconds. They also finished well ahead of the American Record but weren’t granted the record because of an odd ruling by USA Swimming, which won’t recognize any records set in high-tech suits since banning them from domestic meets Oct. 1. The oddity being, US swimmers can still wear high-tech suits internationally until the end of this year, and in a couple of cases, World Records set at this meet by American swimmers won’t register as American Records.

Yesterday, Franklin placed 4^th in the 100M Free, which featured three American swimmers against Great Britain’s Halsall and two other European swimmers. Franklin was 2^nd among the Americans, beating Weir.

Next Sunday, Dec. 27, you can catch all the meet highlights during a special, two-hour broadcast from 2-4 p.m. EST on NBC.

Franklin Set to Compete in Duel in the Pool

Colorado Stars swimmer Missy Franklin, 14, once again finds herself on the international stage as she competes beginning tomorrow in the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, a two-day meet in Manchester, England, that pits a European select team of swimmers from Britain, Germany and Italy against a handpicked team of the United States top swimmers.

Franklin is the youngest member of Team USA, which includes 17 men (Ryan Lochte had to withdraw because of injury) and 18 women, many of them former Olympians, including Michael Phelps, Rebecca Soni and Aaron Peirsol.

The bi-annual Duel in the Pool is essentially a made-for-TV event designed to showcase the sport’s most exciting swimmers in non-Olympic years. A two-hour broadcast of the event will air on NBC on December 27 from 2 – 4 p.m. ET

Last month, Franklin broke onto the European scene at the FINA World Cup meets in Stockholm and Berlin. She was joined by fellow Colorado swimmer Jared Markham, 16, (shown in above photo with Franklin in Berlin) of Greenwood who competed in the 200M Backstroke at both meets. At Stockholm, Franklin took home an impressive 2^nd-place finish in the 200M IM, 4^th in the 200M Backstroke and 9^th in the 100M free, among her six races.