Frankie Rose was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Rose of Country Club Place when she became a national swimming champion as a 12 year old in 1939. She attended Washington Grade School and swam with the Bloomington Country Club swim team. Frankie was not the first swimmer in Bloomington to come to national attention. Jayne Stickrod was already a nationally recognized swimmer and would later prepare for Olympic tryouts.
In 1939 Frankie participated in her first Amateur Athletics Union meet in Chicago and took second place in the 220 meter freestyle, a year later she would take first. During her last year of high school Frankie took 8 medals at the AAU meet in Chicago. She was no longer attending high school in Bloomington, but wintered with her mother in Palm Beach, Florida.
Frankie attended University of Illinois as a liberal arts major and continued swimming with the Terrapins at U of I and in amateur meets, taking national championships in different categories.
After marrying Frederick King, Frankie would visit Bloomington with her sons. She was no longer competitively swimming, but was working as a model for various designers in Chicago while raising two sons. She travelled with the designer Pauline Trigger and was featured on the cover of Look Magazine in 1962.