For a 17-year-old, American swimming star Missy Franklin possesses an unnerving view of her direction in life, writes KEITH DUGGAN

NOTHING CONFERS fame as powerfully and instantly as the Olympics. Until a year ago, Melissa ‘Missy’ Franklin’s emergence as the most precociously talented swimmer of her generation was confined to the relatively underworld status that swimming occupies.

Since then ambition and localised tragedy have sparked to create a scenario which might well see her crowned as one of those enduring Olympic heroines. If the plot to see the 17-year-old from Aurora, Colorado win seven medals in the swimming pool over the next week succeeds, then Missy Franklin’s name will be writ into the London Games just as Nadia Comaneci had reduced the Montreal Olympics to the image of a wraith skipping across a beam.

Franklin, though, is no wisp. Just as Michael Phelps seemed to arrive in Athens as a kind of amphibious wonder who just happened to grow up in north Baltimore, Franklin’s statistics and back story suggest a manifest destiny about her imminent Olympic glory. Like Phelps, she inherited genes that give her exceptional advantages: the size 13 (US size) feet and the 76in wingspan.

She was introduced to swimming at the age of five when her mother brought her to mother-and-child swim classes in an attempt to overcome her own debilitating fear of the water.

Since then, she has developed with bewildering rapidity: she competed in the Olympic trials for Beijing at the age of 13 and although she didn’t make the team, her potential was obvious.

Her life has been dominated by the eerie dawn schedules that all swimmers (not to mention their parents) come to loathe: the 4.15am alarm call, the shock of hitting the water at five for her first 90-minute session of the day, school and the pretence of being an ordinary teenager until 2.30pm, weights training, two more hours in the pool, homework, dinner and in bed by nine.

The schedule is remorseless and mind-numbingly repetitive and through the various internal swim meetings and world championships, July 29th was always the red letter date.

And when she made her debut public appearance in London on Thursday afternoon, she sounded like what she is: a giddy teenager.

“This week has been so exciting; going to France for the first time, coming to the Olympics for the first time. When we arrived to pick up our uniforms, I was literally bouncing off the walls. I know I have a lot of energy but I know when I have to conserve it until – which is just before I race,” said Franklin.

As if the pressure on Franklin was not already immense, her preparation for these Games has been overshadowed by the murders of 12 people attending the new Batman film in Aurora. Franklin balances her water life as one of the best swimmer’s in the world with the ordinary stuff of school and tweeting and following music.

She was in training camp in France when word of the shooting began to filter through and she spent the next few hours texting friends, recalling that a friend of hers had mentioned her intention to attend the film on the evening that it opened.

“Even though it was 3am, I called my mum. She was still up. It was so senseless. I’m hoping to give a lot of fun here to make up for the tough summer Colorado’s just had,” she said.

Wisely, Franklin dampened speculation that if and when she wins her first medal, it would be featured as a dedication to the victims in Aurora. Already, the mayor of Aurora has appeared on American television thanking her for her considerate remarks. So Franklin’s response to the idea of remembering the victims from the podium could not have been more deftly or sympathetically handled.

“Right now, all of my races are dedicated back home to Colorado. No matter how well I do, I’m going to give my best in every single race and every single race I’m going to have that Colorado incident on my mind. They are in my thoughts through this entire process,” added Franklin.

If Michael Phelps completes his ascent to the greatest of all Olympic athletes over the next week, then Franklin looks set to become the new face. Phelps went through his Lost Weekend phase for a couple of years after Beijing, having made a fortune and unsure if he wanted to submit himself to the gruelling schedule the sport demands.

It remains to be seen if Franklin has Phelps’ longevity but she is rare in her sport in that she has the potential to wrack up a seven-figure sum in endorsements after these games. But the financial rewards will be postponed: Franklin has already declared that she wants to attend college and swim as an amateur.

It will probably come as no surprise to learn that she excels academically and has listed Berkeley high among her preferred choices. Her decision is a calculated gamble: if her form has dropped away by the time she graduates, the money offers may have dried up.

But for a 17-year-old, Franklin possesses an unnerving view of her direction in life. So far, she hasn’t needed to act on Phelps’ offer to give her advice on how to deal with madness she is going to encounter over the next seven nights.

“Michael’s the best. Honestly, I’ve gotten so much help from the women’s team. I know one of the things I definitely want to talk to him about later is college,” she said.

But for the next week, she will drop the pretence of ordinary life.

Her coach Todd Schmitz is keen to fend off speculation that Franklin could leave London with seven gold medals. But he admitted that it wasn’t impossible and emphasised that her powerful finishing kick means that she can never be counted out.

“I’m confident she can beat anyone in the world between flags (which mark the five metres to the touch pad at the pool wall). She can come home harder than anyone in the world. She manages her energy levels really well.”

If all goes to schedule, she will line up for her first medal race tonight with the USA relay team at 8.48pm.

In Aurora, they will hold their breath.

Franklin's sevens

4x100m freestyle relay Final tonight 8.48pm

100m backstroke Final Monday 7.50pm

200m freestyle . Final Tuesday 7.41 pm

4x200m freestyle Final Wednesday 8.59pm

100m freestyle Final Thursday 8.31pm

200m backstroke Final Friday 7.30pm

4x100m medley Final Sat 8.07pm