U.S. Olympian Missy Franklin released a statement today praising her experience with the Cal women’s swimming program and saying she will return to Cal to finish her degree while training with men’s head coach Dave Durden.
Franklin swam two years with Teri McKeever and the women’s swimming & diving program at Cal, then turned professional in advance of the 2016 Rio Olympics. In the interim period, she returned to the Colorado Stars and her childhood coach Todd Schmitz.
News broke this week that Franklin would be continuing her training with Durden, who heads up the Cal men’s program in the NCAA and also coaches a group of post-grads – mostly men – at Cal.
In a statement to SwimSwam today, Franklin praised her teammates and coaches with the Cal women, but said she felt the environment of Durden’s group was the best fit for her in the professional realm.
Franklin also noted that she’ll be finishing up her undergraduate degree in psychology while training at Cal. Her full statement:
I am back in California and will be working to finish my degree in psychology at UC Berkeley. I am excited to get back in the water and train with the strong group of post-grads at Cal under Coach Dave Durden. I had such an amazing time as a student-athlete at Cal, training under Coach Teri McKeever and swimming with such an amazing group of women, and I could not be more grateful to have spent my two years as a collegiate athlete with this group. Now, training as a professional athlete, I am confident that this environment is exactly what I need and it will be best for myself and those around me. I can’t wait to cheer on the women’s team at their meets this season and support them as a fellow Cal Bear, and to get to know my new teammates even better. Go Bears!
I would love to see her work on her speed. No need to flog the yardage even harder at her age. Strength and speed work is surely a better option.
What age? She is 21. Come on. Sure Penny may think of Missy an old lady. But the women swimming is not the women gymnastics. Yet 🙂
7 of the 15 individual medals were won by women 21 years & older in Rio .
AA silver & bronze . RAISMAN 22 Mustafina 21
VAULT silver bronze Paseka 21 Steingruber 22 .
BARS gold Mustafina
BEAM gold Weavers 24
FLOOR silver Raisman .
I only put this here because it is interesting not to correct you .
Thank you for the correction. That’s what stereotypes do to the people. But honestly speaking I’m shocked with your information. Something is terribly wrong. Are we witnessing some crisis in women gymnastics? It’s biologically incorrect same as the fast-and-slow-twitch-muscle-fibers contradiction in Ledecky’s case.
All of these are also very hot . Russian Aliya Mustafina is just a GODDESS .
Aliya Mustafina isn’t ethnic Russian. She is the Eastern Beauty.
One thing Ive always noted is that MF has very good teeth. She is an ambassador for american teeth unlike MP & KL . Up there with Brittney .
They really are very straight & white & well spaced .
Everything is so amazing in Missy’s world.
Pretty sure she’s secretly Kenneth Parcell:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKpYXkcVJGs
Not really the worst thing IMO.
LOL- It was …..
What a surprise, Missy is super positive again.
Ok,!Does that mean she is not competing for wemons team in meets!Sure Teri could use the points
James – either way, Missy has turned pro and is ineligible for further college competition, even if she were training with Teri.