Missy Franklin was named one of the most marketable athletes in the world by Sports Pro. (Harry How, Getty Images)
Missy Franklin has yet to swim in her first race or sign her first endorsement deal as a professional, but she’ll clearly have no problem recouping the millions she gave up to attend college.
The Regis Jesuit graduate and four-time Olympic swimming champion was on SportsPro’s annual list of the 50 most marketable athletes in the world. She is the only swimmer and the highest-ranked Olympian on the 2015 list, which is weighted toward an athlete’s marketability over the next three years.
The only athletes deemed more marketable in 2015: Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard (1), Brazilian soccer star Neymar (2) and Masters champion Jordan Spieth (3).
Franklin, 19, who following two years at the University of California Berkeley, is set to compete at the Santa Clara Pro Swim Series in June, . Assuming she doesn’t have a race lined up beforehand, it will be her professional debut ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. She will also compete in World Championships, in Kazan, Russia, in August.
At the 2012 London Games, Franklin captured five medals, four of which were gold. Her collection of hardware also includes 13 World Championships medals (nine gold, three silver, one bronze) and four Pan Pacific Championships medals (one gold, two silver, one bronze).
Franklin, who gave up millions in endorsement money to spend two years at Cal, finished her college career with four individual NCAA championships — one in 2014 (200-yard freestyle) and three in 2015 (200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, individual medley). She also helped Cal to a team title in 2015.
