Franklin rescues USA in pool

Then, just like that, she turned on a big smile and worked the room like a pro.

Thanks to this Colorado teenager, America’s swim hopes are back on track at the Olympics.

Michael Phelps has yet to win a gold medal, and Ryan Lochte’s star has dimmed just a bit. So it was Franklin providing a much-needed boost to swimming’s powerhouse nation, coming back less than 14 minutes after swimming a semifinal heat to win the first gold medal of what figures to be a dazzling career.

“Indescribable,” the 17-year-old Franklin said after rallying to win the 100-meter backstroke Monday. “I still can’t believe that happened. I don’t even know what to think. I saw my parents’ reaction on the screen and I just started bawling. I can’t even think right now.”

After finishing up the semis of the 200 freestyle, she hopped out of the pool and headed to the diving well for a quick warmdown. She didn’t even have time to make it to the practice pool, not when her bigger event was coming right up.

Even Phelps was amazed at Franklin’s stamina, saying he had never done back-to-back races that close together at such a major meet. His quickest turnaround was about a half-hour.

“She’s a racer and she knows what to do,” Phelps said.

Matt Grevers kept the gold medals coming for the U.S. in rat-a-tat fashion, following Franklin’s win with one of his own in the men’s 100 back. For good measure, Nick Thoman made it a 1-2 finish for the Americans.

Rebecca Soni nearly pulled out a third U.S. gold, rallying furiously on the return leg of the 100 breaststroke. But she couldn’t quite catch blazing Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte, a gold medalist at 15.

Good thing for the U.S. that Franklin and the other Americans are coming through.

Phelps missed the podium in his 2012 Olympic debut, and Lochte has turned in two straight disappointing performances after opening the games with a dominant win in the 400 individual medley. He finished fourth and off the podium Monday in the 200 freestyle, which France’s Yannick Agnel won by a full body length against a field with gold medalists galore.

On Sunday, Lochte anchored the U.S. in the 4×100 freestyle relay, taking over with a seemingly comfortable lead. But Agnel chased him down on the final leg, giving France the gold.

Now, another defeat.

“I did my best,” Lochte said. “I guess sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I gave it 110 percent. There’s probably some things I messed up on, but you live and learn. (Agnel is) a great racer. There’s no doubt about it. He’s quick and he showed it last night and tonight.”

Franklin, who was rattled less than two weeks before the Olympics by the Aurora theater shooting not far from her home, barely advanced from the 200 free semis. She qualified for today’s final with the eighth-fastest time, but clearly she was saving something for the 100 backstroke.

She’s still got five events to go, having begun her Olympics with a relay bronze and leaving plenty of time to come away from these games as America’s big star in the post-Phelps era.

The winningest Olympian ever plans to retire after these games.

Australia’s Emily Seebohm, the top qualifier, led at the turn and was under world-record pace, but Franklin showed a remarkable finishing kick. With her arms whirling and size-13 feet pounding the water, the 6-foot-1-inch swimmer passed the Aussie in the final 25 meters and lunged toward the wall for a winning time of 58.33 seconds.

She broke into a big smile but was clearly exhausted, her head dropping back against the wall. Seebohm settled for silver in 58.68 and Japan’s Aya Terakawa took bronze in 58.83.

“You never know until you see that scoreboard, so I was just going as fast as I could until I got my hand on the wall,” Franklin said. “It was 110 percent effort, and all the work paid off.”

The 6-8 Grevers pulled off a similar rally on his return lap, winning the 100 back in an Olympic-record 52.16 – the fifth straight games, dating to Atlanta in 1996, that the U.S. men have won the backstroke. Thoman joined his teammate on the podium at 52.97, a gold-silver finish they were thinking about all along and reiterated just before the final.

Japan’s Ryosuke Irie was third in 52.97.