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U.S. TEAM OLYMPIC TRIALS: SWIMMINGJune 24, 2012Missy FranklinTodd SchmitzOMAHA, NEBRASKA THE MODERATOR: Hello everyone. We're going to get started. Welcome to Day 2 of our preTrials press conferences. I'm joined with Missy Franklin to my left and her coach, Todd Schmitz, with the Colorado Stars. As most of you know Missy was a world championship gold medalist last year at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai. She is swimming multiple events here at Trials, and this will be her second Trials, was one of the youngest ‑‑ is not the youngest competitor ini 2008, little bit of a different time, four years later. I will ask an opening question. Raise your name and state your outlet, we're going to focus on Trials here as that is the focus of the press conference. Missy and Todd, training coming into Omaha, how are things going, and what is your outlook coming back to Omaha this time around? TODD SCHMITZ: I can say we're excited to be here, yesterday morning when we were showing up at the airport in Denver, the excitement hit all of us. Just flying in and enjoying Omaha and the atmosphere, having the College World Series adds to the buzz before our event gets going tomorrow, and I can truly say that we have done more in the water and more out of the water this year than we ever have before so I truly feel that Missy and every one of my athletes is prepared for this. MISSY FRANKLIN: I couldn't agree more, and I'm so excited to be here and I feel ready. I feel so prepared, and I just want to get started. I'm so excited to swim, and I can't wait to shave, first of all, and get in my competition suit and just go out there and race! Q. Missy, do you see Todd on the side of the pool when he's jumping up and down and cheering you on, and Todd do you think you're getting through to her when that happens? MISSY FRANKLIN: I absolutely see him all the time, and you definitely hear him, foremost. It's awesome to know that I'm not swimming the race alone, that Todd is swimming the entire race with me, no matter what race it is and knowing that he's there and supporting me, no matter how I'm doing, and it's a great feeling. TODD SCHMITZ: You know what, the best feeling in the world is when one of my athletes gets out ‑‑ and we're very sensory deprived in the sport of swimming. You hear the sound of rushing water going by your ears and you can see it, and there is nothing better than when one of my athletes gets out and says, I can hear you. I truly feel that. I look at coaching as the more energy I expend on a practice deck or in a meet, the more my athletes are going to give me at the end of the day and I think that's a paramount thing, especially in a workout when it's getting hard. If we want an intense set, I need to crank up my intensity to get the energy and excitement flowing in a workout, and I try and approach a swim meet the same way. Q. Missy, when you left here and drove home with your folks four years ago, can you even grasp‑‑ at that time could you grasp what the next four years were going to be for you? MISSY FRANKLIN: Absolutely not. I had no idea. I definitely knew what I wanted, and that was to be back here four years right now and have a shot at making the team, and I didn't know if that was going to be possible. But the fact that it's here and happening, it doesn't feel real, and it's such a dream. But I knew that I wanted that more than anything, and these past four years I have worked so hard, and all of the experiences, all of the meets, all of the people I've met, everything I have learned is now what it comes down to, so I'm going to take all of that in and do the best that I can here. Q. Question for you both, four years agoKatie Hoff did a great job during the Trials, and she was a little disappointed in Beijing. Is it the same thing for you, and could that be useful for you? TODD SCHMITZ: You said Katie Hoff? Q. Yes. TODD SCHMITZ: I think there are reporters out there that want to draw similarities, and as a coach I know that each of my athletes is different, and they're all wired different, and you got to approach each one of them differently. So at the end of the day I don't want to compare Missy to anybody else out there. Missy is Missy, same as all my other athletes, but I think you've got to learn. I was just telling a reporter last week, reporters forget people that blow up at Trials sometimes, coaches don't forget that stuff. The U.S. Olympic Trials, every four years, does some crazy things to some really good athletes, so that's been my approach. I was using the analogy in the last couple of weeks of "Hoosiers," when they walk through the Indiana State Championships, and he measures the hoop, that's 10 feet, that's the same thing here. There is a 50 meter pool, there are probably a few more people in the stands and a few more lights on you, but at the end of the day, it's a pool like we train in every single day, and that's the confidence that you have to go in with, and you can see that with Missy. You've got to have fun. MISSY FRANKLIN: I think everything Todd said is right, but going out there and having faith and just trusting that what you're doing is right and just knowing that I've gone through Todd's tapers before, they've always worked for me, so having faith in it and knowing that I'm doing what I'm supposed to go doing and having fun and relaxing is the most important part and Katie still had an amazing experience, but, again, learning from your experiences is always important. Q. How easy is it to have fun and relax like you did four years ago when you're in a totally different position with all the expectations? How do you manage that so that you can still see it for what it is, just another race? MISSY FRANKLIN: I think the expectations are definitely higher and that does make it a little bit more difficult. The expectations from the people who matter most to me, my coach, my family and my friends are all just for me to go out there and have fun, and those are the expectations that I want to live up to, are the people that I love and care about. They have been so awesome with not putting any pressure on me and knowing that they want me to have fun, smile, and go out there and if I do that, I know that I will be happy and they will be happy, also. Q. Can you update us on where you are with your college decision? I believe there is a college deadline as to when college coaches can contact you the first time and it falls during the Trials, and I was told by one coach they had agreed not to recruit you here while you're at Trials and maybe let that go until later on. Can you put the time frame in there, if that's true, when coaches can contact you and if it's been set up that they're going to let you focus on Trials for the most part? MISSY FRANKLIN: All of the colleges coaches have been so nice and so respectful of the fact that this is one of the biggest meets of my career, obviously. They are going to respect my time and know that I'm crazy here and they've all been so generous. You know what, "We want you to go out there and have a blast, have fun, we're not going to bug you," so for me, that's all I'm focusing on right now, and maybe after this and after the rest of the summer that's when I'll buckle down and start emailing and talking on the phone to the rest of the coaches and seeing what happens. Q. Can you talk about your decision on why you intend to swim in college rather than turn professional? Could something happen if you were to swim outstanding, lights out, even more, this Trials, that you would change your mind? MISSY FRANKLIN: It's definitely hard to think about it, but I think for right now, I do want to swim in college because I love being part of a team. It's one of the best feelings in the world for me just knowing that I have all of these people behind me and walking into a pool together and warming up together. It's awesome to know that you have so many people behind you and so many college teams are awesome with that, and they're close. A lot of my greatest friends having off to college and seeing them with their teammates is special, the bonds that they have formed. That's something that I want in my life, and for right now that's what I want, but after this summer we'll see what happens. Q. Todd, as a coach, describe the scouting report on Missy. What makes her stand apart from other swimmers? MISSY FRANKLIN: Well, you know what? I think there is a lot of tangible things and some intangible things. Really, I've said before, I think it's Missy's uncanny ability to flip the switch. There are a lot of athletes out there, paralysis by analysis; they think about it too much. I think Missy is good at that. She takes one race at a time, and if you look at the way the Grand Prix's and things are set up, we swim more than one session, so we take one step at a time, and at the end of the day that's a special skill because then you're able to manage your energy. If you turn that switch on too early, it's going to drain your energy before you hit the pool. But it's also that ability to flip that switch off. Being able to get out of a meet‑‑ I remember, numerous times over the last ten years that Missy would go out and make her first national cut and two minutes later instead of going to warm down she is over there cheering for her teammates, which is awesome. It's that ability to go into game mode and go out of game mode in a very good time frame, so you don't use a lot of energy outside of the pool, and her physical stature, obviously. At 11 or 12 she had big feet; she didn't always look at that as a good thing. Now I know she realizes having big feet as a swimmer is a darn good skill to have. So her physical stature, and she is a team player. You listen to her talk about college swimming and being around a team, Missy is the first one in a workout, no matter how hard it is, to come in on a repeat and be like, "Hey, come on guys, let's go." I think that's a special skill. When you‑‑ she truly understands that a rising tide raises all ships. Look at it: We had one qualifier, Missy, in three events last Trials. We have five Star swimmers here this year, and Missy was the pioneer to crack that ice of getting to Trials, and it's more of a realistic goal for every kid on our team from 6 years old all the way up. Q. Missy, what's it going to be like to go against Natalie? She has some big goals, and you're standing in the way a little bit in some of these events. What are your thoughts about going up against her, so many head‑to‑head showdowns. MISSY FRANKLIN: I love racing against Natalie. She pushes me to a whole different level, and watching her swim is incredible. So to be swimming with her is such an honor, and I don't mean to be standing in front of her goals by any means. We all have different goals, and I think we both want each other to achieve those goals and hopefully we can do that together. Q. I was wondering what your last few days were like, back home, saying goodbye to your friends, what sort of send‑off you had and what your emotions were like coming here? MISSY FRANKLIN: They were awesome. I had the best last few days. We were on taper, so not running around a lot. I went over to my best friend's house for dinner and a lot of my friends were there, and we had a relaxing, fun night together, enjoying each other, knowing that we weren't going to see each other for a while. At practices, having everyone say goodbye, taking time to walk around my neighborhood and saying goodbye to people I love and care about and relax and know no matter what happens, I still have all that to come home to. Q. Todd, I was curious, obviously Missy has been an accomplished swimmer for a long time, but if there have been ah‑ha moments, when those came and what they were? TODD SCHMITZ: There has been numerous points over that time. I remember a meet in Decemberof 2008, actually‑‑ no, Decemberof 2007, sorry, and she actually made‑‑ it was an in‑state meet at the University of Denver and she went out in the 100 Free, and she went out and made her first national cut, and I didn't realize it, and mom sends me a text and says, "Todd, I'm pretty sure that's a national cut," and I'm like, "What?" And sure enough, I pull out my time standards and sure enough, and the national meet is like two weeks later. And the next day she makes the 50 Free national cut, and mom's question was, like, "Are we going to the meet?" And I'm like, "No. It's November. It's two weeks from now," and that was one of those moments where she can show up to a meet in Novemberand not be in full shape. Then it goes to this year. We got back from Worlds, traveling halfway across the world, came back and swam Nationals in Palo Alto, and I was set on her taking two weeks off. She went to Hawaii for a week and had a week before school started, and we didn't come back until after Labor Day knowing that we were going to crank it up after that. So I distinctly remember six weeks into training in Octoberwe had taken a trip with the youth team to the World Cup meets in Berlin and Moscow, and I remember the entire week before we left, not kidding you, at least three or four times a workout Missy told me she was not in shape and we should not be going to these two meets. And I was like, "Fine, we're just going there for top‑level competition experience, and the next morning in Moscow she goes in the water and goes 2:03, which is almost the time she went the winter before in Dubai to win a silver medal in the 200 short course back, and I remember Jack Roach, the National Youth Team Director saying, "Hey, Todd, do you think she can go 2:00 tonight?" And after watching that race I said, "Yeah, I do," and that night Missy went 2:03 again. That's a perfect example you never know when your best race is going to happen. She went out there and tried her hardest and went the same time. Four days later in Berlin we approached it differently. That night she had the 200 Free, and had a great swim, her best time. We had a few mistakes in October, that's what happens, and just kind of like, oops, we probably shouldn't have done that, we should have done this. Then 20 minutes later she had to hop into that 200 Back, and she hopped out of the 200 Free warm down, I said, "Well did you leave that 200 Free race in the warm‑down pool?" And she looked at me, typical Missy and she goes, "Always." "Okay, sorry! Let's work on our walls and attack our turns," and those are the two things I said to her. And she goes out, and I remember at the 150 turn she was over a half a second off that World Record, but I know, and you guys know, Missy is good on her back half and comes off that last turn and just explodes and, you know, I've seen the replay a bunch of times now, but I can still remember standing on the side of the pool deck and having her touch the wall and in Berlin they're awesome about‑‑ right away, it's like, boom, World Record, "WR" next to it, and I remember her looking at the board and turning to where all of us coaches were standing and it was just‑‑ that's probably the most ah‑ha moment, that we're on the right path and the she's got what it takes. Q. Missy, you've been racing since you were a child. Now you're on the doorstep of the Olympics. What does it mean for you and are you ready for those Olympic spotlight? MISSY FRANKLIN: It means the world to me, and every time I swim I make sure I'm remembering that 5 year old on her summer club swim team that loved going out there and being with her friends and playing cards in the tent before we swam, and I'm swimming for that girl, the one who just loves swimming with her whole heart. For the Olympic spotlight, I'm not thinking about it right now, I'm just thinking about Trials, that's all that matters, just taking it one day at a time, one day at a time, one race at a time. Q. What do you think about 100 Freestyle againstFederica Pellegrini, coming so far, does that make the race more difficult for you? MISSY FRANKLIN: I think so. There is so much talent in the freestyle field right now it's unbelievable, but that's what makes it fun when there are so many competitors out there that you can race with. You can push them and they can push you, and that's what makes it exciting. It's like pushing yourself beyond levels that you thought you were capable of and with all of those amazing people, you are able to do that. So hopefully I get the chance to be able to race against them, but we'll see. Q. Todd, when Missy opened she had a lot of enthusiasm, talking about "can't wait to shave" and tapering and so forth. Can you talk about sort of that whole taper phase, the psychological or do you treat it almost scientific in getting her ready to race? TODD SCHMITZ: Yeah, taper is individual, every athlete, like I said, is going to react differently to different things. But like Missy said, really it comes down to that mental aspect and having a swimmer believe in the work that they've done. Taper is not magic. A lot of swimmers and a lot of people outside of this sport think that there is this magic pill or something. That's the best thing. If you walked out on a pool deck right now and asked 50 different coaches, they would tell you 50 different answers for what they're doing for taper, because that's they're evolution, it's an ever‑evolving thing. Like Missy said, her having the confidence that she swam fast on every rest that we have had since she has been at the elite level for the last five years, that gives me a tremendous amount of confidence, too, but my being on the U.S. Staff last year at Worlds and being able to go to training camp and seeing how she deals with things, the media, being in a hotel room, I'm able to adjust those things so that this year it truly sets us up more for success because we can make those adjustments before they're thrown at us because we know they're going to come. Q. Missy, to follow up something your coach was talking about, what was your moment that you broke through and you started to really feel confident that, hey, I've arrived, I'm ready to take on all comers? What was your break‑through? MISSY FRANKLIN: Honestly I think that World Record was one of my big ah‑ha moments, because what he said was spot on, through the whole trip I was nervous, I had taken two weeks after, I hate taking time off, I hate being out of shape, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm not going to do well, I am so out of shape, and I work out at Steadman Hawkins, and there are a whole bunch of different athletes there, and there is a football player there and I was talking to my coach about it, and I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm so nervous." And this football player looks over at me and he says, "Swimming is what you do. You're not going to forget how you do it. Just go out there and do it," and after that I went out there and got a World Record off six week of training, obviously from the facials, I have never been so surprised in my life. That was one of the big moments. And you never know when that time is going to happen, and you have to believe in yourself and know anything can happen. Q. You and your coach have talked about getting you ready in the pool. What have you done, and, Todd, what have you done over the past year to help with the flood of attention you're about to receive out of the pool and are you looking forward to it? TODD SCHMITZ: I guess I'll start, Missy just finished her junior year in high school, and it's an important year. Missy probably had her toughest course load ever this year, which is contrary to a lot of elite athletes at her level going into an Olympic Trials, but I think there was a conscious decision on her parents' and my part to maintain that normalcy. At the end of the day, she is a 17 year old kid. You know, okay, yeah, we can take a second semester off or whatever it may be, but then you know what, in January, what is she thinking about? Olympic Trials are six months away. It goes back to that paralysis by analysis, I think by‑‑ I mean, really, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think until the last four weeks when she finally got done with her last final of high school classes, that's when she truly started thinking about Trials. Not that she didn't think about it all along, because of course we had a meeting in Septemberand I said, "Here is the event schedule, here is what you have cuts in. I want you to look at this every couple of weeks so that you have some thoughts in your mind I have some thoughts in my mind so when we get down to it we can make educated decisions." So I really think that normalcy and really at the end of the day, Missy doesn't deal with the media, her mom and I really ‑‑ and Karen and Matt at USA Swimming and the staff filter that, and we took that ad hoc because she doesn't have an agent, to make sure at the end of the day, Missy wasn't doing five interviews a night and not able to get her homework done or whatever it may be. MISSY FRANKLIN: I think the support I've had with the media and everything that's going on, it's so special, and I disagree with the fact that I don't have an agent. My mom is my agent and manager and everything else! But I'm trying to have fun with it, too. It's so exciting. I got to go "Vogue"; that's so cool! To go out there and fly to Florida and do this photo shoot I think it's incredible. Still trying to have fun with it, and it's a blast, and knowing it's an honor for people to want to talk to me. Q. Missy, a lot of things are‑‑ obviously you enjoy life and never seem too upset about anything. Is there anything that makes you mad or you don't like? MISSY FRANKLIN: Homework is not my favorite, or big tests. School can definitely stress me out a lot, but thankfully that's over right now so I'm just enjoying summertime and I'm so unbelievably excited for my senior year. Q. Todd, I know you guys have a pretty tough double on Wednesday. Is there a change in strategy now versus what you've done all along in the Grand Prix's? You talked about her coming back after the hundred free and breaking the record in the 200 Back. Is there any change in that? TODD SCHMITZ: No, you know what? Two years ago we could see this. I mentioned to Missy, "Hey, Trials schedule came out. It's going to follow the Olympic schedule. The reality is if we want to swim these events there is going to be a couple of doubles in there that are going to be pretty rough," so educating her we're going to do this at Grand Prix's all the way through for the next couple of years so we're prepared for this. The Austin Invite in the beginning of June, we did a couple of things. She actually swam the 200 Free into the 200 Back, which was awesome. That was even better, because those are more stressful races than the 200 Free/100 Back that she has to do on Wednesday. So having that 200 Free/200 Back, I looked at her and I said, "This is what we're going to do. We're going to pretend this is Olympic Trials. You're going to walk all the way around the pool and come over to me just like we have to take that walk into the warm‑up pool, so it's going to take us a few minutes, and then we're going to go over there and warm down for 9 minutes, or however long my watch says we can. We're going to swim as much as possible. We're going to hop out, dry off, get into game mode for that next race and we're going to be in the ready room when we need to parade out." So I think myself as a coach I have just tried to give her ammunition, so to speak, that this is possible and it's not a big deal. We've done it all the way along. A lot of times last year and this year we would swim three events in a GrandPrix at night and have an hour in total, those three events. All those things, I tell my swimmers all the time, those are the deposits into that mental toughness thing. When you go to Olympic Trials or Nationals or World's or the Olympics, that's when you get to take those withdrawals. If you haven't made those deposits all the way along, you go to make that withdrawal and they say, "Overdrawn. You don't got anymore," and that's when you crash and burn. I tell my swimmers all the time, you have to make those mental toughness deposits. Guess what, it might be you have a stressful test tomorrow morning, and you've got to come in and perform in workout. That's mental toughness, because that's dealing with pressure and those tough things, and so trying to teach those life lessons: All the things outside the pool help us in the pool. A lot of the things in the pool help us outside the pool, also. THE MODERATOR: Thank you everyone, and thank you Todd and Missy. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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