Missy Franklin earns gold as part of 4×200 relay team at Olympics
Missy Franklin earned a gold medal on Wednesday night when the U.S. women’s swimming team captured the 4×200 freestyle relay final at the Olympics in Rio.
Franklin, a 2013 graduate of Regis Jesuit, did not swim in the final — a surprising turn of events. She did swim the second leg of prelims in helping the U.S. to the fastest qualifying time for Wednesday’s final, and so she will get a medal.
Franklin finished her prelim swim in 1:57.03, the second-fastest split of the American relay.
But, like it did with the men’s relay, the U.S. opted to change three of the four swimmers in the final, going with Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith, Maya Dirado and Katie Ledecky. Schmitt was the lone holdover from the prelims.
That group of four won the final in 7:43.03, beating out silver medalist Australia (7:44.87) and bronze medalist Canada (7:45.39). The men also won gold with a group that included former Regis Jesuit swimmer Clark Smith.
The gold medal is Franklin’s fifth in her career, and sixth total medal. She won four gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in London just after finishing her junior year in high school, and also won a bronze.
Franklin tweeted about the race shortly after it ended:
WE DID IT!!!!🇺🇸🌟 Another gold for the USA 4×200 Free relay… Those girls swam their ❤️❤️ out! What a privilege to be on the morning relay.
— Missy Franklin Johnson (@missyfranklin) August 11, 2016
Franklin finished 13th in the 200-meter race earlier in the week. She will finish her 2016 Olympic schedule with the 200 backstroke on Thursday. The prelims are at 11:41 a.m.
