Touch the Wall

Summary: On the evening of Saturday August 4, 2012, 17 year-old Missy Franklin won her fourth Gold medal of the London Olympic Games when she swam the backstroke leg of the women’s 4×100 medley relay. It was Missy’s second world record of the Olympic games; it was her 5th Olympic medal. It was a crowning moment for swimming’s brightest new star and end of a chapter of her marvelous journey. That Saturday was also the end of her teammate Kara Lynn Joyce’s long and productive Olympic career. And though she finished with four Silver medals, just making it to her third Olympics was her greatest accomplishment. The fortunes of Missy and Kara – and that of their coach, Todd Schmitz – are the stories of Touch the Wall.