Missy Franklin Decision To Swim For High School Team? Some Say Unfair
Missy Franklin is on the cusp of deciding whether or not she should join her high school's swim team, but the Olympic gold medalist said she is hearing from some that it might give her an unfair advantage in the water.
Franklin, 17, won four gold Olympic medals this summer at the 2012 London Games and she is considering giving Regis Jesuit High School's swim team a helping hand. However, the decision comes with the possibility of a backlash from other schools and athletes.
"So it's so hard when I have so many people that are really wanting me to do it and so supportive, and I have other people who are saying it's not fair. 'Why would you do this to other girls?' And I feel so bad thinking that they would think that," Franklin said Monday. "It's hard, because I feel like no matter what I do, it's going to be opposed in some way or form."
She also added that she would willingly back down if a high school athlete told her that they did not want her to swim.
"If I had anyone who swims high school come up to me and tell me they don't want me to swim, I would absolutely not swim," Franklin explained. "But everyone who I've talked to has been so supportive of it."
Regis Jesuit is just outside of Denver, Colo. The swimming season has already started so out of fairness to her coach and teammates, Franklin wants to make the big decision quickly, according to The Associated Press.
"The hardest part for me is I really have no gut feeling on this," Franklin said. "In my past big decisions, I've had a gut feeling. Now it's hard because I'm really relying on other people's opinions, and there's so many different opinions that I have no idea."
"This is my last big decision for a while," she added.
Franklin already decided that she will swim in college and compete for two years before turning pro after the 2016 Olympics, held in Rio de Janeiro.
