Franca: The Song Remains the Same
November 20, 2003 05:35 PM | General
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November 15, 2003
The scene is at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in Uniondale, N.Y., last February. West Virginia junior Kleyton Franca, already one of the best swimmers in school history, is in the finals vying for his third straight, count it, third straight championship in the 200-yard freestyle event.
But during the introductions, the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, native, is unequivocally angry, for two reasons.
At the BIG EAST meet, if a swimmer places first in the preliminary round, that individual gets to choose a song that all of the qualifiers in the finals must walk out to during introductions.
Franca, being the music-loving individual that he is, not to mention the defending two-time champion, wanted a say in the song selection. What really set him off, though, was the person who did make the pick.
"The kid who won preliminaries purposely bumped into me and glared at me during introductions," recalls Franca. "I just thought to myself, 'Who does this kid think he is?' Plus I think it was his first ever BIG EAST meet on top of that."
So, instead of feeling the enormous amount of pressure a defending champ usually experiences, Franca was simply fumed, and then, he delivered.
He pierced through the water to stop the clocks at 1:37.31 and capture his third straight BIG EAST title, a feat achieved by just 20 previous male swimmers in the history of the conference.
Call him Mr. February, a la Mr. October Reggie Jackson, but winning it all has become a habit for Franca, who says the feeling of elation has been different every year.
"Winning it freshman year was amazing," he says. "I remember I just couldn't believe I won and my teammates jumped on me after I got out of the pool. It was also big because no one had ever won BIG EAST from WVU before."
After the championship as a freshman, repeating as a sophomore and a junior would prove to be a daunting task.
"The pressure has been unbelievable the past two seasons on me," says Franca. "I know both times I just felt very relieved after winning. Just the expectations from my teammates and everyone in the BIG EAST can really overwhelm you."
The pressure he has felt has actually extended far beyond the pool in his tenure at West Virginia. Franca is an industrial engineering major and maintains a solid grade-point average throughout arduous and seemingly endless hours of training and work.
In addition, Franca has battled and conquered two major injuries in his career - a car crash in which he suffered a broken arm as a freshman and a torn ACL prior to this season.
With such a hefty burden on his shoulders from all facets of his everyday environment, it's a wonder Franca hasn't been declared legally insane by now. But the senior has a secret to unwinding - it's about a six-hour plane flight away.
During the summer, he returns to Rio de Janeiro, a mecca of beautiful beaches and wild nightlife. In other words, when Franca goes home, ahem, "¡Es tiempo de partido! (It's party time)."
"My favorite thing to do when I'm home in the summer is just enjoy the beach and party a lot," says Franca. "I basically do everything I don't do here. Anything I can do to keep my mind off of swimming because if I don't I would go nuts."
The craziness might hit its pinnacle once again in February as he tries to become just the seventh male swimmer in conference history to win four titles in one event.
Franca has dominated in early season competition, posting back-to-back three-win meets to earn him two straight WVU athlete of the week honors.
Week-in, week-out, the senior practically owns the 200 freestyle, and most of the time, the 500 and 1000 yard versions of the event as well. Still, he remains focused on one thing.
"Winning at BIG EAST is my main goal right now," he says. "I don't know what I'm going to feel before the meet. I know it'll be a lot of pressure. But I'll just try to do my best and maybe I'll break some records while I'm at it.
"Who knows, maybe I'll even get to pick my song this year," he smiles.
That might not be the best idea. Fact is, in all three of his BIG EAST title swims, he's never placed first in the preliminary round, and never had the choice of song.
"I think in the prelims I just go fast enough to make finals," he explains. "You also don't have the fastest people swimming next to you, and you almost don't want to go 100% because you know you'll have to swim later."
So while the song that echoes throughout the Nassau County Aquatics Center prior to his event may not be his request, the sweet tune of victory following is sure to be his personal favorite. And then, for one last time as a Mountaineer, ¡Es tiempo de partido!
Brady Smith is a student assistant in the West Virginia University sports communications office.
