Missy Franklin is entered in swim meets in Europe the next two weekends. The five-time Olympic champion has not competed since the Rio Olympics.
Franklin, who earned four gold medals at London 2012 and one as a preliminary relay swimmer at Rio 2016, missed all of 2017 after undergoing right and left shoulder surgeries early last year.
This past January, Franklin announced a coaching change, moving from Dave Durden at Cal-Berkeley to Jack Bauerle at the University of Georgia. She also disclosed that she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety two months before Rio, according to The Associated Press, and that she was targeting the U.S. Championships in July.
“I’m kind of coming back from the bottom,” she said in January, according to the AP. “I could feel pressure because people are expecting a comeback, but I don’t care. I don’t really care what kind of pressure people are putting on me because I can’t control that.”
The U.S. Championships are key because they not only determine the U.S. team for this summer’s major international meet, the Pan Pacific Championships, but also because the 2019 World Championships team is determined by nationals and Pan Pacs.
Franklin is on entry lists for Mare Nostrum series stops in Canet-en-Roussillon, France, this weekend and Barcelona the following weekend.
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