Fourteen-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps says Missy is the one to watch heading to the London Games.
"I love being competitive," Missy said. "I love racing. I love the water, it is in my veins and in my heart."
Her eyes sparkle as she talks about the thing that has always been a passion.
"I had her in the water at 6 months old," Missy's mother, D.A., said. "She loved it from that moment on."
"It's weird thinking about how I was 5 years old and on my first summer club team and watching the Olympics and thinking 'Oh my gosh, I want to be there. I want to do that,'" Missy told 9NEWS. "I never expected it to happen so soon."
We have been spending time with Missy and her family the last few months and will continue to document her journey to the Olympic games. One blizzard morning in December was a good representation of what it takes to go after an Olympic dream.
It was three days before Christmas.
"My coach is crazy," laughed Missy Franklin. She was sitting on the living room coach with a fleece blanket around her. It was 4:30 a.m. The house was dark except for a light in the kitchen and the glow of the T.V.
Missy and her parents were watching blizzard coverage on the news. Her coach, Todd Schmitz, texted Missy that practice is still on. They started just an hour later.
Then the announcement came on that Regis Jesuit High School's office was closed. That wouldn't affect most students who are already on break, but it elicited a groan from Missy.
"I could have gone to the birthday party last night," she sighed.
Instead, she quickly dropped off a friend's gift before the group headed to dinner. Missy went home to study for the AP History and English exams she was expecting to take before 11 inches of snow overnight changed her plans. She was looking forward to having them done.
The days Missy would have taken her junior year first-semester finals, she was breaking a world record at Duel in the Pool swim meet in Atlanta, Georgia.
Christmas break for Missy is never much of a break at all.
Her mother, D.A., handed her a bagel, yogurt and a cup of coffee. It's a pre-practice snack.
Her father, Dick, announced that he'll be the chauffeur to practice that morning. Missy has only had her driver's license a few months and her dad didn't want her navigating the dangerous roads alone.
They called their 9-year-old husky, Ruger, to the car and they were off. It was 5:30 a.m.
Coach Schmitz has energy before he gets started on the large coffee in his hand. Members of the Starz swim team walked into the Carmody Recreation Center in Lakewood soon after 6 a.m.
"They know I'll be here whether there is snow or not. I'm from Bismark North Dakota. This is nothing," Todd laughed.
Missy was the first one in the pool.
"She doesn't have to say a lot to lead," Todd said.
Missy leads by demonstration.
"She is first in the water, great attitude, always willing to do more and work harder," Todd said.
Practice starts. Over the course of two hours, the swimmers will cover 6,500 meters. That's about four and a half miles. They do it without much rest time at all. This is an "easier" day. The day before, they swam 8,000 meters and had two separate practices.
In the pool, Missy is elegant and fierce. Her stroke is as smooth as it is strong. She is focused but is there to have fun too.
In between drills she and her friends talk about things you'd expect teenagers to talk about. She smiles and laughs and encourages her team mates.
But when the goggles are on; it is all business.
Missy displays a tremendous ability to balance being 16 years old and being a world-class athlete.
"I love to go to practice and see my friends. We push each other and support each other and they don't treat me any differently," she said.
But after practice she does have a stack of autograph pictures to sign. She carefully writes out a message on each. They are Christmas gifts for her coach's nieces and nephews.
"They are big fans. I know they'll be happy with the gift they are getting this year!" Schmitz said.
Photojournalist John Kuhrt and 9NEWS reporter Cheryl Preheim drove back up to the Franklin house after practice. Missy was shoveling the driveway.
"Didn't you get enough exercise?" Preheim asked.
Missy laughed. "Just wanted to help my parents out, this snow is crazy," she said.
She turned back and smiled, "Don't tell [my coach], he'll kill me."
Inside, D.A. had a Missy-style and Missy-sized breakfast ready.
"We have a lot of carbs and protein too," she said.
Chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage, potatoes, rolls, fruit and eggs. Keeping up with calorie intake isn't easy training at this level.
Her mother asks, "Did you drink your chocolate milk on the drive home?"
Missy's eyes get big.
"Oops, I'll have two glasses now. Thanks!" she said.
There is something special watching the Franklins together. There is an ease and a closeness between them all that many wouldn't expect from a teenager girl and her parents.
At one point, Missy reaches over to hold her dad's hand as he tells a story about her first year swimming.
"She was always taller than the other kids," he remembered.
D.A. brings over a picture of Missy's first year with Starz Swimming. She was 7 years old.
Who could have ever imagined then that she'd be the athlete expected to do great things, perhaps things no other female swimmer has ever done, at the 2012 Olympics.
"I hope you don't mind," Missy said as she put her hand on her mom's shoulder.
"I'm going to go upstairs before I fall asleep on the table," she said.
She said it's the result of a great practice. There will be another one tomorrow.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)