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PHILLIPS 66 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPSAugust 5, 2014Missy FranklinIRVINE, CALIFORNIA MISSY FRANKLIN: So obviously, like I am for every meet, really excited. We flew in last night, super easy, still getting used to the fact that I live in California, so I only have to fly like an hour to get to meets, which is so nice. But I'm really, really looking forward to this week. I am really excited to race people I haven't been able to race for a while, see all my National Team friends, and I'm really excited about how the meet lineup is. I get two days off during the meet, which is really nice. To have that tough double in there with the two‑three‑two back but really looking forward to it. I'm really excited to get out there and race and hopefully make the PanPac team for the rest of the summer. Q. We couldn't help but notice when you walked in, it was the world's greatest two female swimmers standing right next to each other. When was the last time you saw Katie because you guys seem like you were in different Grand Prix meets and you were in college and she was in high school. When was the last time you saw each other? MISSY FRANKLIN: It's been a really long time. Actually I'm trying to think, I may not have seen her since last summer because I haven't really been going to Grand Prixes. It might have been Golden Goggles. I think that was it. So it's been a long time. It was so good to see her. Q. For so long we've had the Michael, Ryan, kind of story line on the men's side, and now we kind of have this burgeoning with two teenagers coming up, you and Katie. What's that been like? You see her times from afar and how great they are and at the World Championships you were amazing competitors. What was it like to have her there? MISSY FRANKLIN: It's incredible. I think Katie is obviously so incredible what she's been able to do and what she continues to do. I mean, her accomplishments over the past two years have been unreal and she just keeps getting better, which is so incredible. She's an inspiration for me just watching her race every single time with so much passion and just fierceness. I love that about her. It is nice being able to watch her do her events and like be able to do a little different events but also having events like the 200 free where we're able to race each other and possibly be on a relay together. That's the best part about our sport is having that team aspect and not only getting to race your competitors but being on a team with them. I think that really encompasses what sports is all about. Q. You mentioned the team aspect. Last year's World Championships when she was given, I think, the award for female swimmer of the meet, she told reporters, actually I think Missy deserves this. Do you remember that, and what did that mean to you to have her say that? MISSY FRANKLIN: It meant so much to me, and that was definitely tough because I want Katie to feel like she deserves it because she absolutely 100 percent does. Her summer was unbelievable. Her summer before that was unbelievable. And her summers for the next 10 years are going to be unbelievable. I have no doubt in my mind. It's kind of hard when people do bring the rivalry aspect into it because she has her goals and accomplishments, and I have mine. It's hard when people start comparing them because they're totally different, and they mean totally different things for both of us. I don't want her to feel like her accomplishments aren't as good as mine or mine aren't as good as hers because they're totally different for the both of us. She deserves absolutely everything and so much more that she's going to get. Q. When was the first time you met her and what were your first impressions? MISSY FRANKLIN: I think the first time I met her actually might have been like Olympic Trials or leading up to that because, you know, she really came on the scene like March of 2012, and so I think all of us were just starting to meet her as she made the team and as we went to London together, and she's just one of those personalities where she just fits right in, just one of the new people on the National Team, and she came in and just molded with everyone, and she's such a great addition to the team, and not even because of her swims and her world records but just because of the person that she is and the personality she brings every day to work out and that awesome smile we see every day. It's awesome to have a teammate like her. Q. What was your first year of college like, and maybe you can talk about some of the highlights away from the pool. What was college life like for you the first year? MISSY FRANKLIN: It was awesome. It was so hard. It absolutely kicked my butt. School was killer, but I really, really enjoyed it. I had really been pushed in high school, too, with academics, but this was really the first time in my life where I felt like a student athlete. Like I really had to put as much intensity and effort into my schoolwork as I did in swimming because that's just how I wanted to do, and at Berkeley you can't really not do that and still get the grades that you want to get. It was an awesome year. I learned a lot my first semester, and I think probably my highlight, other than out of the pool, was I got all A's my second semester, and I was like, this is like eight best times. I'm so excited. I remember calling my parents, and that was just one of those moments where it's exactly like going a best time. You've put in all that work and all that effort, and you get an amazing reward for it. So that was really great. Just starting to be a part of clubs and organizations on campus, sort of finding my place on the Cal campus has been really, really fun, and I can't believe I'm already a sophomore. Q. Do you have a major or any kind of focus on these classes? MISSY FRANKLIN: Yeah, so I'm thinking right now psychology major. I want to be an elementary education teacher, and Berkeley doesn't have an education major, but they do have grad school for education, so roughly but possibly I'm thinking psychology major and then education for grad school. Q. Will you bring in those medals to show the kids? MISSY FRANKLIN: It would be a fun lesson. Q. Did you say all A's were like eight best times? Were you taking eight courses? MISSY FRANKLIN: No, I think I took four classes last semester, but it was very, very rewarding. Q. Coming out of a more intense college season than what you used to swim in high school, what's the difference physically? Obviously it's been more than two months since the college season ended. What difference, training, whatever, adaptation did you have to make because you probably put in more effort from December through April? MISSY FRANKLIN: Yeah, absolutely. It's completely different, and I think even more important than the physical draining was the mental draining, just, you know, having to go to morning workout, getting killed at morning workout and then going to class for four hours and maybe getting a 30‑minute break and going to afternoon workout and going home and having to do all this homework. Living in the dorms was an experience in itself, but I think I learned so much. I thought I knew how to time manage well before I got to college, and then you get to college and it's just a whole different level. But even more important than time managing, I learned how to kind of self‑manage and energy manage and figure out where I needed to put my time and my energy that still left me some at the end of the day so I wasn't just completely drained. Terry is absolutely incredible with teaching us how to do that and where to spend our energy, where to spend our time, so it's going to be most beneficial to us and those around us. Q. What courses were you taking that you got all A's in the second semester? MISSY FRANKLIN: Oh, gosh, I did an introductory public health class. I did‑‑ I don't even remember. How bad is that? This is so bad. I honestly don't remember. I can think about it and get back to you. Q. And you posted a picture on Instagram or Twitter or something with a guy who looked like a bit of a significant other. Do you want to tell us about that? MISSY FRANKLIN: He was actually part of my life before I went to college. He's been a rock. Q. The men's 4 x 100m relay at the Beijing Olympics, do you remember where you were watching Jason Lezak's final leg? MISSY FRANKLIN: Oh, gosh, let me think. Well, I was 13 at the time, so I think‑‑ honestly I don't remember. I don't think I like sat down and watched the entirety of the Olympics with my parents. I thought that‑‑ like for some reason I think when you watch it on TV, it makes it seem further away. I don't know why, but like it feels like it's just further away, whereas like if you just think of it as another meet where people are swimming, it doesn't seem like it's kind of harder to reach. I do remember watching that, though. I think I was just with my family. I still think without a doubt that that's the greatest relay in the history of USA Swimming. I mean, that was so exciting. That's why we do this. That's I think why people love swimming so much and love watching swimming so much is because anything can happen, and when moments like that happen, they really are unforgettable. Q. Having been at Nationals last year where there was no Michael Phelps and being here at Nationals this year when he is back, can you tell a difference? MISSY FRANKLIN: Oh, absolutely, of course. Q. Describe what that difference is. MISSY FRANKLIN: I mean, Michael brings obviously so much to swimming. He's brought so much publicity, so much attention to how amazing this sport is and how much it's taught everyone, and just having him on deck, the experience that he brings is just incredible. I think another really unique thing about her sport is where else do you have the opportunity to have high school basketball players play in a game with LeBron James. You know? That's literally what's happening. We're having swimmers in high school and college all around the country who get to swim against the best people in the world, and that's just unbelievable. So for those kids, for me, for the people who even have been on that level, to still be learning and watch these people, I mean, just sitting watching them, how they warm up, what they do before a race, you can just learn so much from them and their attitudes. It's amazing, and I think everyone should really just cherish that because I know not all sports really get that opportunity. Q. Just to go off that, do you remember your first Nationals and what you were kind of feeling when you were there? MISSY FRANKLIN: Yeah, honestly I think the biggest meet was Olympic Trials in 2008 when I had just turned 13 and I remembered just being totally star struck. I remember at the end of the meet, I was asking Megan Jendrick, I went up to Cullen Jones and asked him for his autograph, and two years later I know he's a bigger goofball than I am. But it was just amazing like being in that situation, watch Katie Hoff break world records and watching Michael and Ryan. It was amazing learning and being on deck and the excitement that you get when they're in your warm‑down lane and you get really happy about it. I still feel like that was yesterday, and so I think it's awesome that we're able to do that. Q. You're being modest because there are a lot of little kids who look at you the same way, so I'm curious when you're warming down and going about the course of your preparation, do you notice eyes upon you and people studying you and what that is like having been on the other side of it? MISSY FRANKLIN: Yeah, absolutely. That's a huge privilege that I have been given as being that kind of example and being a role model, and that's why I think it's important for us to remember at meets and away from the pool that we do have eyes on us, and instead of thinking of it as a bad thing, thinking about what an honor that is to have little kids that are looking up to us and making sure that we're making the best of that and making sure I'm warming down a lot after my races so everyone knows it's good to warm down, and making sure I'm smiling before my races. I don't just do that for other people, I do that for me, too, but I think it's good for people to see that I'm just having fun. Q. Natalie Coughlin, still swimming, still swimming very fast. Just from your we are expect I have, what has she meant for U.S. swimming over the last 10, 15 years being among the elite and she's kind of looked at as the veteran out there who's still going strong? MISSY FRANKLIN: Yeah, I mean, Natalie was my personal role model growing up, so to be able to have looked up to her for so many years and then start being on national teams with her, being on an Olympic team with her and now training at the same pool she does every day, it's incredible. She's very similar to Michael, and just the experience that she brings, especially with restaurants when we travel across the world, you just go eat wherever Natalie is going because it's going to be amazing. But she's just awesome. It's very similar. She's been there. She's done that. She's had these experiences. She's learned so much. And the great thing about both of them is they're so willing to share. If you just go up and ask them questions, they're never going to turn you away. They're always going to take the time and answer them and help you figure out the things that you need to figure out, and it's incredible to have teachers like them on the team. Q. (No microphone.) MISSY FRANKLIN: I don't know. I know it's going to be really hard to stop for sure, but I figure right now I feel like this is absolutely the plan that God has for me, and if I ever feel like that changes, then I'll do my best to follow it. But right now I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be. Q. In London it was where you were deciding‑‑ you were talking about going to college, and that decision, and you just were talking about being on relays and the team atmosphere and all these things you're looking forward to in college. Was the first year all those things that you were looking forward to? Obviously you passed up other things and sponsorships and a different path in swimming. Did you get what you wanted with the college experience the first year? Was it what you expected? MISSY FRANKLIN: Absolutely. It was all of that and more. I would make the same decision 100 times over again if I could. And it's only been one year. I get a whole 'nother year of this experience. Being on a college team, like there really is no other team aspect of swimming like a college team. Going to NCAAs, it's like no other meet in the world, being on relays at NCAAs, I have never been so nervous for races in my entire life. It's been incredible, and I remember I saw this, there was this poll on Twitter where it was like would you rather go pro and take the money or go to college and take the ring, and I got kind of upset because I was like, that's not what it's about. If you want to go pro, it shouldn't be for the money, it should be for the people that you're going to be able to reach, and if you want to go to college, it shouldn't be because of the ring, it should be because of the aspect and the team, and that's exactly what it was all about. I know as a team we didn't do as well as we wanted to at NCAAs, but we learned more in those three days than probably what we learned the whole season and probably more than what we'd have learned if we had easily gotten first. And to take that into next season, just to see what we can do and how we can grow as a team I think is really exciting for everyone. Q. Did Natalie invite you over for some of her cooking? MISSY FRANKLIN: No, but she has offered to come over and teach my roommate and I just some simple things, but simple for Natalie probably is going to be extremely challenging for us. But I know we'll have to have her over soon to get the ropes on some of the cooking things. Q. In all of the things that went into the college decision, did you look at all the struggle that Katie and Dagny Knutson had because they chose to go pro? They were among the only women of that age who had chosen to go pro and it was a real struggle for them during the time when they might have been a freshman and sophomore in college. MISSY FRANKLIN: Yeah, and I think that's a hard situation because everyone just needs to make the choices that are best for them in their lives and that moment, and that differs for every single person. I think it's important to look at what other people have chosen to do, but at the same time their situations are going to be completely different from yours. Where they want to go is going to be completely different from where you want to go, and so ultimately when deciding, it just came down to my parents and me talking about my future and what we think would be best for my family and for me. Q. With the physical and mental demands of this sport, what do you do to mentally get away? Can you, quote, turn it off? MISSY FRANKLIN: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think you have to. You have to have your me time to just check out, relax and not worry about it. For me it's reading. I love, love, love to read, so I bring like eight books to meets, and I'll normally make it through just about all of them. My teammates make fun of me all the time because I'll literally read on deck like in between events, after warmup, but that's just a way for me. I feel like books have the ability to just take me away from everything and put me in another world, so that always fills me up again. Q. Are we talking Harry Potter books? MISSY FRANKLIN: A bunch of different books. I'm a huge dork, so I do love sci‑fi, romance, fiction books, but I'm also into really life lesson books and journey books, and I'm reading a book called "Love Does," by Bob Goff, and it's amazing. I just started it yesterday and I'm over 100 pages into it. I can't put it down. It's just so cool that you can pick up 100 pages and learn a life lesson from it. I think it's really cool. Q. I think a lot of people think of swimming as a sensory deprivation sport, but what does it sound like to you when you're in a race? Can you describe that, the water moving through with your body moving through the water? MISSY FRANKLIN: You know, that's another great thing that Terry talks about is just our relationship with the water. I think one of the best parts about swimming is that although it does take away some of those senses, that leaves so much more room for imagination. Even if you don't hear anything in the water, you know, those last 15 meters, you can just pretend, like the entire crowd is on their feet, going nuts. They might be sitting down not saying anything and they may be doing that, but it's totally up to you. You can kind of make that energy and use it, which I love about our sport. I kind of like the fact that you don't really know what's going on because it really lets you focus on what you're doing and kind of just takes you away from the rest of the world. Q. Four years ago I think you popped up and a lot more people's screens at this meet. I was wondering if you can go back and what were your expectations for that meet, and if you already had something in mind for London. MISSY FRANKLIN: You know, going into London, I think I was definitely a little overwhelmed that I was going to be doing seven events at my first Olympics. I think that was something that was really scary for me. But after talking with my coach and some of the staff there, I realized that my dream had already come true. I had already made an Olympic team and I was going to be an Olympian for the rest of my life, and that had been my biggest dream since I was as little as I can remember. All I had to do was go out there and have fun because my dream had already come true, and now I was given seven more opportunities to make even more dreams come true, and I was going to make the most of every single one of those. Q. What about at 2010 Nationals? MISSY FRANKLIN: 2010 Nationals, oh, my gosh. I don't even remember that far. Where was that? Was that here? Yeah, because that's where I made PanPacs. I totally remember that. Honestly, that meet, I was really‑‑ I knew PanPacs was there. I never expected to make the team. And then going from PanPacs and making the World Championship Team from 2011 was just like, I could have never dreamed of that. I was absolutely terrified out of my mind on the PanPac Team. I had just started to get to know people a little bit on the National Team, so I was still really young, still didn't know people, had to do the rookie skit, which was mortifying, but it was awesome because it really was like my first big like National Team. I had been in Dual in the Pools, but like my first National Team, several day long meet, and the fact that it was in the U.S., too, was awesome. Like having PanPacs here at the same pool, that was so fun, and that was, I think, where my relationship started to form with everyone on the team. It's crazy looking back now. I remember I roomed with Dana Vollmer for that, and now we were swimming together at Cal. I remember her giving me her‑‑ for Nationals we got little, I think, it was like tan teddy bears, and PanPacs we got gray ones, and I didn't medal at PanPacs, but I remember she came in one day and she gave me one of the gray bears she had won and I still have it, and that just meant the world to me, and I kept it. That's kind of when I realized like that's the teammate that I wanted to be. It was awesome. It feels like forever ago. Q. To refresh your memory about that Nationals, you were on the deck dancing to Justin Bieber before your race. MISSY FRANKLIN: Sounds about right, yeah. Q. When you look back at that person, do you even recognize her, and is there anything now four years later you wish you could have told that person dancing on the deck to Justin Bieber? MISSY FRANKLIN: Well, chances are you'll probably see me doing that again, so honestly I absolutely recognize her because she's still the exact same person who's sitting up here right now, still just that exuberant, loving‑life girl who is swimming, and that's all that matters. I get the opportunity to do what I love every single day, and honestly, I don't think I would have told her anything because I think having that opportunity these past four years to figure it out on my own and to learn those lessons and to make those mistakes and to make those failures and learn as much as I could from them and get better, and then having those accomplishments and seeing what I could do to be better, it was just the most incredible experience. Yeah, I still can't believe it's been so long. I think I'd tell her to keep dancing. Q. Do you still like Justin Bieber? MISSY FRANKLIN: I don't agree with all of his life decisions lately, so I've a little moved on from that, but absolutely still dancing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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