"Regis Jesuit junior Missy Franklin, right, cheers on a teammate during the Continental League Swimming and Diving Championships at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. Franklin, an Olympic hopeful for London 2012, passed up seven figure endorsement deals to compete in high school and college, where she is expected to be one of the most heavily recruited swimmers of all time."
"Missy Franklin, center, shares a moment with teammates, left, Jamie Monk, Jessie Weed and Kendall Higgins."
"Franklin competes in the 200-yard individual medley and went on to win the event with an All-American qualifying time of 2:00.93."
"Franklin, center, shares a moment with teammates Taylor Wilson, left, and Briana Labrie before competing in the 100-yard freestyle."
"Franklin, left, huddles with teammates before competing in the 200-yard freestyle relay before the Raiders went on to win the event with a state qualifying time of 1:39.99."
"Missy Franklin collects her thoughts before competing in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Raiders went on to win the event with a state qualifying time of 3:38.09."
"Franklin, right, gets a good luck kiss from teammate Briana Labrie before competing in the 400-yard freestyle relay."
"Missy Franklin shares a laugh with a competitor before taking the blocks in the 400-yard freestyle."
Last Saturday, while other world class swimmers were probably training with one another, Missy Franklin, who happens to own the world record in the 200-meter backstroke, giggled with teammates and text messaged friends between events just like you would expect every other teenage girl would do.
In most all aspects of life, she's just your typical high school junior. Then you consider that she's touted to have the potential to put up a Michael Phelps type performance this summer at the London Olympics and you start to wonder what that's like. How does someone balance being that good and still being, well, a kid?
Karen Crouse gives you a glimpse of her life in her story, "Before the Olympic Trials, There's This Big High School Meet."
In my short time with Missy I was throughly impressed. Most notably, she's incredibly humble. She signs an autograph or takes a picture with anyone who asks, many of whom are her fellow high school competitors.
For me it was great to get to shoot more of a story as compared to action that eats up a ton of my schedule. I actually like working these kinds of assignments more, than say, a Broncos game where I'm just taking pictures of what happens on the field in front of me as opposed to making pictures. Considering the rather busy scene at a high school swim meet, I'm really happy with the moments I was able to come away with.
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