Well, that was easy.

Missy Franklin, a 17-year-old swimmer from Centennial, qualified for the 2012 London Olympics last night after posting an American record during the 100-meter backstroke final at the swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Franklin finished the race in 58.85 seconds, beating 18-year-old Rachel Bootsma of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, who also qualified for the Games. Former 100-back champion Natalie Coughlin finished third and has yet to secure a place on the United States team that will travel to London.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Franklin's swim was the fact that she'd swum a 200-meter freestyle semifinal race only 20 minutes earlier—something she's done on several occasions, but, nonetheless, an achievement.

Franklin will have a relatively quiet day today when she swims in the 200-meter freestyle final to potentially qualify for another Olympic event.

I profiled Franklin in June's issue of 5280 and swam against her as part of the story.

—Image by Bryce Boyer