Missy Franklin turned 16 on Tuesday. On Friday, she gave herself a belated birthday present.
The Regis Jesuit sophomore won her 15th gold medal of the USA Swimming Grand Prix season — more than even 2008 Olympic star Michael Phelps has earned (10) — with a record effort at the 27th annual Charlotte (N.C.) UltraSwim meet.
Franklin won the 200-meter freestyle in 1 minute, 57.66 seconds to beat U.S.- record-holder Allison Schmitt by more than a half-second and set a meet record.
“It was a lot of fun and an amazing race,” Franklin said. “I saw Allison coming up in the last 25 meters, so I just put my head down, went as fast as I could and tried to get my hand on the wall first.”
And to think, it was only a year ago Franklin made her Grand Prix debut in the same meet.
“She’s doing things on a consistent basis that are causing people in the U.S. — coaches and competitors alike — as well as worldwide to notice what she’s doing,” Teri McKeever, head U.S. women’s coach for the 2012 Olympics, told USA Today this week.
