Does Swimming Need a Katie Ledecky-Missy Franklin Rivalry?

Swimming has become the most marketable Olympic sport because of its stars, and this summer in Rio de Janeiro should be no different. 

Only the main focus shifts from the men's side to the women's with the emergence of Katie Ledecky and the return of Missy Franklin. 

Those in charge of the United States squad have made it clear this week in Omaha, Nebraska, at the Olympic trials that Michael Phelps is passing the torch to Ledecky, who burst onto the scene four years ago by winning the 800-meter freestyle in London as a 15-year-old and has since risen to the most dominant swimmer in the world. 

Swimming is such a specialist sport that it doesn't always work out that the biggest stars face off. In the case of Ledecky and Franklin, they have different specialties—Franklin in the backstroke, Ledecky in the distance and middle-distance races—but they both figure to be in contention in the 100 and 200 freestyles.

Ledecky has never competed internationally in the 100-meter freestyle, but whenever she does swim, she wins. She has swam in 15 international races, and she's won gold every single time. As Chuck Wielgus, executive director of USA Swimming, told Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post:

"

We’re fortunate to be living in this age in our sport, the Ledecky eraI don’t think we've ever seen anybody like Katie before. And I think in the future we're going to look back, and the sport's history will be divided into pre-Katie and post-Katie. She'll be this iconic figure by which all future distance and middle-distance swimmers will be measured.

"

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Four years ago, it appeared that such praise would be coming the way of Franklin, who won four golds and a bronze in London as a 17-year-old. Franklin was the perfect blend of talent and bubbly personality that America fell in love with her. 

Unfortunately, a back injury at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Australia sidetracked her career. At the event, she medaled in only one event, finishing third in the 100-meter backstroke. At the same event, Ledecky flashed her dominance, winning gold in the 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 1,500 free and 800-free relay. 

She pulled off the same five-gold sweep in last year's World Championships in Kazan, Russia. 

"What I walked away from Kazan remembering, and I flew home and anyone who would listen, I said, 'You may not know the name Katie Ledecky now, but you're going to know it like you know the back of your hand by the time we're finished with Rio,'" NBC's Michele Tafoya said at a press conference on Saturday in Omaha.

Franklin has gradually built herself back up. She won silver in the 200-meter backstroke and bronze in the 200 free at the World Championships. She has not yet returned to London form, but the hope is that she would peak this summer, and her redemption story begins in Omaha. She's off to a rough start, however, failing to qualify for Rio in the 100-meter backstroke, an event in which she won gold in London. 

Franklin told reporters on Saturday:

"

You know I think my times were a little bit slower than where I would have liked them to be in season and that kind of makes the end of season that much more exciting, because you know what you are capable of. You know what you've been training all year long, and you have kind of been pushing it and pushing it, but to get that rest, to really know that you're going to be ready to rock on all cylinders and go out there and really have this performance that you've been waiting to have for so long, it really amps up the excitement.

"

The ideal scenario for the sport this week is that Franklin is truly back, and she and Ledecky have two epic battles in the 100 and 200 freestyle this week.

Jeff Curry/Getty Images

They came into the trials as the top two seeds in the 200 free. Ledecky had the top time in the heat on Tuesday, and Franklin clocked only the seventh-best time. Both figure to swim in the finals, but only the top two qualify for the Olympics.

In the 100 free, it's Ledecky who is more of a long shot. Franklin is the No. 2 seed, and Ledecky is seeded fourth. Any swimming expert would tell you that it's nearly impossible for a distance swimmer like Ledecky to thrive in the 100, because a distance swimmer's stroke does not work in a sprint. But Ledecky is so dominant in longer distances because she's able to maintain a sprinter's stroke throughout.

Ledecky's seed time in the 800 meters, for instance, is 15.09 seconds better than the second seed. It's like she's driving a speed boat and the rest of the competition is in a pontoon.

"You can tell she is very goal oriented, and for me it brought me back to kind of what I was like way, way, way back in the day," Phelps told reporters this weekend. "... Every time she gets in the water, it's like a world record. So she is improving so much, and I think she is just trying to push that barrier, and I think it's pretty exciting to watch her do that."

Ledecky has already qualified in the 400 free, and she figures to be a shoo-in to qualify in the 200 and 800, and her one challenge this week is the 100. 

But since she doesn't have to change her stroke, is there any reason to count out the greatest female swimmer in the world? 

A more likely scenario is that we get to see Franklin and Ledecky together as teammates in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay and the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. The top four in the 100 and 200, respectively, will make up those teams. 

Swimming is still going to be the must-see sport in Rio, regardless, with Phelps possibly competing in his final Olympics, and Ledecky chasing a Phelpsian medal count. Ledecky is on another level that it's not fair to judge Franklin against her. 

Obviously, the folks at NBC will be rooting hard for Franklin and Ledecky to beat the odds and take the top two spots in both races. Even if there's no real drama when they face each other, we'll still be seeing a generational talent in Ledecky and a great swimmer in her own right in Franklin on the sport's biggest stage. 

You can follow C.J. Moore on Twitter @CJMooreBR.