Five-time Olympic champion swimmeer Missy Franklin has revealed she can no longer be in the water for a long period of time following a series of shoulder injuries.

The 25 year-old rose to fame after she won four gold medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games and then picked up another in Rio four years later.

But Franklin, who retired in 2018, has been prevented from adding to her medal collection due to the injuries she is suffering from in her shoulders.

Speaking about the problems, she said: "I mean, my shoulders are in so much pain that I can maybe hop in the pool and swim easy for 20, 30 minutes, but that's about as much as my old broken shoulders can handle at this point," she told People.

"I never got the second shoulder surgery that I needed and I just — I don't really see getting back in the water at this point in my life being the best thing for my physical or my mental health.

"I kind of feel like I've given everything I possibly could to the sport and now it's to do good outside of the water."