KAZAN, Russia — The athletic superambassador Missy Franklin would seem to have more obstacles to overcome in her summer of 2015 sequel than Tom Cruise’s superspy Ethan Hunt, whose latest big-screen exploits in “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” Franklin watched before joining the United States swim team for the World Aquatics Championships.
Franklin’s mission, starting Sunday in this capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, is to build on the history she made in 2013 in Barcelona, where she won a record six gold medals to extend her world championships total to nine, both records. With a victory in the 200-meter backstroke, one of her four individual events, Franklin could become the first woman to win three successive world championships in the same event.