LONDON -- American teenager Missy Franklin set a world record in the 200 backstroke Friday for her third gold and fourth medal overall at the London Olympics.
MacMullan: Swimming's Next Generation
London might be Michael Phelps' fond farewell, but for the kid without a license (Katie Ledecky) and the girl with a closet full of overalls (Missy Franklin), the fun is just beginning, writes Jackie MacMullan. Story
Franklin clocked 2 minutes, 4.06 seconds, 0.75 quicker than the mark set by Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe at the 2009 world championships in Rome in a now-banned bodysuit.
"I can't believe what just happened," said Franklin, who had dedicated her Olympics to victims of the theater shooting not far from her Colorado home. "In that last 25, I knew I was giving it everything I had because I couldn't feel my arms and legs and I was just trying to get my hand to the wall as fast I could."
It was the seventh world record of the Games.
Russia's Anastasia Zueva took silver, a body length behind Franklin in 2:05.92. Elizabeth Beisel put a second American on the medal podium in 2:06.55, while Coventry finished sixth.
"I could never dream for it to happen like that," said Franklin, who also has a bronze in her first Olympics and one more race to go in the 4x100 medley relay.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
