After a rough few days at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, that saw Missy Franklin go medal-less in individual events, Franklin managed to recapture a spot on the podium with a 1:55.49 time. The Regis Jesuit graduate finished third in the 200-meter freestyle Wednesday night.
18-year-old American Katie Ledecky won the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:55.16, while Italian swimmer and two-time winner Federica Pellegrini finished second with a time of 1:55.32. Ledecky has now won three gold medals at this summer’s world championships.
Franklin finished fifth in the 100-meter backstroke Tuesday, more than a second behind the winner, Australian Emily Seebohm. Franklin had a poor start and was in last place as late as the 50 meter turn.
Seebohm was not surprised of Franklin’s fifth-place finish.
“I think she has worked very hard, and it took her a long time to get over her injury [back spasms at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships last August],” Seebohm, the silver medalist behind Franklin at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 Worlds, said on Eurosport via NBCsports.com. “I think she’ll be back on fire next year. We can’t expect to be on our best all the time. It’s definitely a fight to the finish, and she fought the whole way… She’ll be back to give me another go next year.”
Franklin, who recently turned professional after swimming at Cal-Berkley for two years, was part of the United States women’s 4×100-meter relay team that captured bronze on Sunday, finishing behind Australia and the Netherlands.
Bryce Rudnick, a Mile High Sports intern and CU-Boulder student, contributed to this report