Missy Franklin was elected to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
What happened?
The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (BASHOF) Class of 2026 Enshrinement Dinner will be held on Thursday, May 14 at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero in San Francisco.
The Class of 2026 inductees includes Missy Franklin, Jack Clark, Brandon Crawford, Eddie Hart, and Jesse Sapolu.
Why it matters for Missy Franklin
Franklin is one of the most celebrated and decorated female athletes in swimming history, with 7 NCAA championships and 5 Olympic gold medals.
She joined the Bears in 2014 and made an immediate impact, winning the NCAA championship in the 200-yard freestyle with an American-record time.
What comes next?
The election to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame is a recognition of Franklin's immense success at both the collegiate and international levels.
Franklin was named the 2015 NCAA and Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year, while also winning the Honda Award, given to the top female swimmer in the country.
She won three individual NCAA titles and two relays that year, including another American-record effort in the 200 free.
Franklin etched her name into seven different top-10 program lists, including the school records in the 100 free and 200 free.
She was also a standout in the classroom and was named a CSCAA Scholar All-American as well as a Pac-12 All-Academic honoree.
At 17, Franklin burst onto the Olympic scene by winning four gold medals at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
She added two more world records to her resume, to go along with a *Swimming World*‘s World Swimmer of the Year award and back-to-back FINA Swimmer of the Year and Golden Goggles awards in 2011 and 2012.
Franklin collected a record six gold medals at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships and added five more podiums in 2015 to bring her career medal count to 17.
The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame election is a testament to Franklin's enduring legacy in the world of swimming.