Editorial Coverage Sponsored By FINIS
By Siobhan Dale, Swimming World College Intern
Exactly four years ago a 17 year old girl with long arms, a beaming smile and a bubbling personality to match stood on the Olympic podium and captured our hearts. This year she walked off the Olympic deck and moved our hearts in a different way. I have a message for that girl and for every swimmer who has been impacted by her journey:
Dear Missy Franklin and Those Who Stand With Her,
My mom cried after your 200 backstroke swim. The last time I saw my mom cry at any swim meet was after I had the worst race of my life at my high school state championship meet. I know that the Olympics and a Connecticut state meet aren’t equivalent at all. But the emotion my mom felt watching you despite the difference between our situations is what makes the connection so powerful.
Those of us watching you– we don’t know what it’s like to lose an Olympic title. But we do know what it’s like to lose. Watching you at the 2012 Olympics, speaking in interviews as if you were speaking to your closest friends, walking the pool deck as if it were the deck of some local YMCA instead of an international stage, humanized the Olympics for us.
Watching you felt like watching a teammate or a friend compete instead of watching a swimming icon. You were and you are an inspiration but you have never presented yourself as an aspiration. Missy Franklin was never the girl we all wanted to be. Instead, she was the girl we all are — the girl we can all relate to — and that is even more powerful.
This Olympics the world watched Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps in awe, but people watched you in hope. Speaking personally, your name came up in my family’s conversations just as much as any other Olympic swimmer’s this year. Every person I have talked to about Olympic swimming has mentioned your name. People speak about who you are rather than what you’ve done. It’s not that we don’t have interest in the amount of medals you’ve won, it’s just that we care more about the person wearing them.
In 2012, every newspaper, magazine article, and television piece on you spoke about an Olympian who was the captain of her high school team, an Olympic champion who still got nervous for her high school meets. You made people pay attention to your swimming career with all of your remarkable feats, but you taught people that there was more to notice than just a piece of metal.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
If anyone went back in time to 2012 and told the girl on the podium what would happen at this Olympics, you wouldn’t have believed them. It’s easy to think at 17 that there’s an invincibility to being on top of the world. At 21, it’s harder knowing that there’s also a danger to it – the fall could be long and hard.
But if anyone went back further and told a 7-year-old you what the 17-year-old you would achieve in 2012, you wouldn’t have believed them either. There’s not much any person can say about the future. They could tell us it’s going to be amazing or that it’s going to be the hardest struggle we have ever endured. We wouldn’t trust them either way.
The only person we can ever put faith in knowing what the future holds is ourselves. When you dive into the pool again it won’t be for your coaches, fans, teammates, friends, or any doubters you’ve had along the way. You don’t have to do anything for us or for them. The only person you should now try to prove anything to is the girl who was crying at the end of the 200 backstroke. She deserves to have a little belief.
There will always be people to catch you when you do fall. Despite your ability to make everyone watching you feel like a friend, the truth is we don’t know much about your life. We know what we see on a screen but there is undoubtedly more to Missy Franklin than what we see. We don’t know who you have to lean on, but we can promise that if there’s ever a moment where you feel unable to find someone, you can take comfort in the fact that you have thousands of people cheering for you.
We may not know you entirely, but we know ourselves. You have connected with us in a way that so many other athletes have been unable to do. In every win you achieve, there’s a part of us that feels like our best friend has just accomplished something amazing. In every loss you face, there’s a part of us that feels we have lost too. You are the teammate we will never have, and the idol we will always treasure.
Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
I write this piece not just to you but to every swimmer who has felt a connection with you. This connection is based on the struggles they themselves have faced, the kindness they have strived to embody, and the victories they aim to one day achieve. All three of these qualities (perseverance, kindness, and triumph) are the qualities which Missy Franklin has inspired us to hold onto, even in the most challenging of moments.
When any of us walk off the deck without the victories we wished to accomplish, without the medals we strived for, we walk away carrying only one thing – our name. The person who dives in the pool is the same person who gets out. Missy Franklin, you leave Rio as the same girl who won all those medals in London. To every other swimmer out there– your jacket still bears your name, you still have the same friends as before, the same supporters, the same teammates, the same supportive family.
When athletes lose any important race or competition a common sentiment they think or say is that they feel they have lost everything. Of course, it’s unavoidable to feel that emotional at times. But the truth is, you haven’t lost anything at all. You are the exact same as you were before.
The person we strive to be is the person we are through the actions we take in the process of striving. Missy Franklin, people watched you in hope, and I can guarantee that we all still have that. You have taught us to look well beyond the medals to the person who fights for those results. And the person you are is someone I believe in immensely.
So for those who can’t believe in the swimmer they are, believe in the person you are instead. You are who you are, and that identity is rawly revealed in the thick of struggles. As long as you keep climbing, I will choose to believe in you.
Sincerely,
A Missy Franklin Fan
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This is lovely. I really hope she sees this, because I think this embodies all the thoughts and feelings of many, many of us. She is such a classy, amazing woman, and even though this happened to be an off meet, like you said- we watched her in hope, and love her for her humanity, and we all feel the dissapointment on some level as swimmers and competitors who have failed at reaching our own goals. I can’t even begin to imagine what that feels like on the Olympic stage, but her grace through it all is I think what we’ll remember more than anything. I really hope she comes back in 2020.
Beautiful.
The writer.
And Missy.
Thank you.
She will be back – it is the way swimming works. Ups and downs…..
Missy
I have an increditable speaking opportunity for you speaking to about 400 Rotarians in Colorado in April of 2017.
Please contact me by phone or e-mail. Life is about character, and you have demonstrated the highest among us. As you know, we don’t always win, but your story of hard work and dedication through winning and not winning is a terrific one.
Please contact me.
Jim Rohrer
Rotary District conference 2017 Program Chair
303 679-0144
303 6790144
Behind strong, beautiful people, inside and out,are their coaches. Can’t even begin to express the impact mine had on me. That being said, Micheal, you’re the best!!
She is all class! She will be back for sure.
Who decided to cut onions! I hope the author sees this… this was an entirely humbling, emotional, motivational, and outright amazing article.
I really hope Missy reads this, and I think she might since this is one of the first articles you see when you google her name (that is how I found it and is the first article I opened, even before the wiki page), because she needs to see this.
In 4 years she will be 25… I know from a physical standpoint men are different from women but look at Phelps… 25 isn’t too old to manage a few more golds, even for a woman. Keep training HARD, remember what 7 year old would have wanted, and make it happen. You can do this!
Had the privilege of hearing Missy talk in Sun Valley Idaho last fall. I agree with your article.
Dear Missy,
You will learn from this experience and improve and be back for 2020! We learn much more from our failures or disappointments than from our successes. I will be at pool side in 2020 to cheer you on. You are a star and lead by example. Thank you for the lessons that you have taught us all about how to conduct our lives, about humility and grace. A Master Class! You are awesome!
One of my idols is Winston Churchill who lost the British election after saving the world…one of his most devastating losses…he dusted himself off, redirected himself and won a Nobel Prize in Literature…and established his legendary role in history…you go girl!
Missy,
All the above is true. I hope you continue your journey with all the pride, class and hope. I also hope you go back to school. I look forward to what’s next on your journey. Thank you for letting us come along.
Sincerely,
Eli5
Don’t worry about Missy Franklin. She is ok. She is a professional swimmer. That is what she has chosen to do for living. And she does this job very well. Being a champion definitely helps this business but it is not a necessary part of it. She was one of the worst female performer at US Olympic swimming team and nevertheless she will earn more than any other usa female swimmer this year. Same as Hosszu created “iron lady” brand , Missy Franklin made her own: “to be loved”. She is making money with that and I don’t like it.
Will Missy Franklin return to her best three year old form? I would like to see that, to make American team even stronger. Will it be enough to be on the top? Not any more. The swimming world didn’t stay still during this three years. She perfectly understands that and undertakes the best course of action in such circumstances. So stop crying and feel petty for her. She is ok. Someday she may even honestly explain us how it is possible to drop more than 1% in performance during one month since trials. If of course such honesty doesn’t hurt her lovely image and business.
This touched my heart in so many ways because it is all so true! Thank you for putting into words what so many feel about Missy Franklin. She is an inspiration to so many during the ups and downs of sports. Keep going for your dreams Missy because there are so many who love, support and believe in you no matter what! And to the writer, thank you and you are an inspiration as well! Keep up your beautiful work and taking time to brighten the world with positive and meaningful words!