Missy Franklin qualifies in 100 backstroke at Pan Pacific championships
World champion Missy Franklin failed to qualify for the 200-meter freestyle final after making a late decision to compete despite a sore back on the opening morning of the Pan Pacific championships.
A half-hour later, she was back in the pool and swam fast enough to advance in the 100-meter backstroke, an event she won at the last Olympics. She had to overcome nerves just to start her second race on Thursday, and later said she considered it a successful morning regardless of the mixed results.
Katie Ledecky led qualifiers in the 200 free in 1 minute. 56.45 seconds, with Australia's Melanie Schlanger second-fastest in 1:57. 29 and Shannon Vreeland in 1:57:40. Franklin had the fourth-quickest time across the five heats but was behind U.S. teammates Ledecky and Vreeland.
