For the two out of the last three years, one of those students drawn to the joy of competing under your school name while hanging out with your friends is Missy Franklin, a five-time medalist in the 2012 London Olympics who, between celebrity appearances and a continuing Olympic-level swim schedule, goes to school and swims for Regis Jesuit, a private high school in the Denver area.

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But, if you want to be the best in your circle of friends or in the top five percent in the U.S. population at golf, swimming, Spanish, Japanese, whatever it might be, I firmly believe that you can accomplish that in most cases six months or less.

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