Like Arvada West’s Roy Halladay and Vail’s Lindsey Vonn, Missy Franklin has put Colorado on the map in the sport she dominates: swimming. The 16-year-old home-grown athlete crushed the competition at this weekend’s Charlotte Ultraswim USA Swimming Grand Prix event: She won the 200-meter freestyle by chasing down the American record-holder, took gold in the 200 backstroke, and claimed a bronze in the 100 freestyle, earning praise from accomplished international swimmers like Michael Phelps (Washington Post). “She’s so versatile, it’s nuts,” Phelps says. “She’s swimming event after event, back to back to back, and she’s winning and swimming fast times.”

Franklin and her coach say she wants to qualify for the 2012 Olympic trials in every event, a feat virtually unheard of in the swimming world. As time goes on and the Olympics approach, however, they’ll have to dial in on a couple specific events. But for now, everything remains on the table, and those who know her best back home have no doubts Franklin will be an Olympian one day.