Swimming
Favorite athlete: I must say that Michael Phelps is my favorite athlete. Ever since his record-breaking eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, I’ve always looked up to him and pushed myself harder so that I could one day be as great as him.
Favorite team: Phillies. No matter where I live, I’ll always be a diehard Phillies fan.
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory was during my sophomore year. My relay team tied with Upper Perkiomen for second in the 200 free relay. Since we had the better seed, we were able to qualify for the State Championship Meet. If it hadn’t been for that relay, my desire to train harder and focus on swimming might have never happened.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The funniest moment that I remembered was when we opened the doors to the pool during a February practice. The temperature was so warm in the pool, the air from outside formed a thick fog over the pool, and our coach couldn’t find us in the fog.
Music on your iPod: Imagine Dragons, Foo Fighters, The Killers, Bastille
Future plans: I plan to attend Marywood University and major in Biology. Get into Medical school so that I can one day become a cardiologist in the United States Navy. If the chance arises, I would love to one day coach a swim team.
Words to live by: “I wouldn’t say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it.” –Michael Phelps
One goal before you turn 30: To make the Olympic Trials or climb Mount Everest
One thing people don’t know about you: I can spend hours doing Sudoku puzzles and watching Netflix.
By Mary Jane Souder
Michael Freeman just might be the ultimate success story.
And not necessarily because of the Upper Moreland senior’s individual accomplishments but rather because of what he represented to his swim team.
The senior captain – a key contributor in the Golden Bears’ run to the program’s first District One AA title - was a study in perseverance and an advertisement for the value of hard work.
Coach Melanie Rowland recalls Freeman’s persistence as a freshman trying to make the district cut.
“He was one of those kids that didn’t do year round swimming, and what happened was we had a swim-off because it was between him and another boy for one of the relays,” the Golden Bears’ coach said. “We did it every single day, and he didn’t make it.
“It was just heartbreaking because this was a kid who had so much heart. I was like, ‘I’m sorry, Mike. This is a numbers game, and your time just is not showing it. You did great, but…’ What happened was instead of being angry – he thanked me.
“He was a baseball player, and he said, ‘Do you think I should play baseball or swim?’ I said ‘I’ll be selfish and say I really want you to swim, but I think you need to talk to your baseball coach too.’”
Freeman went back to baseball that spring and persevered with swimming the winter of his sophomore year. His swimming career reached a turning point when the 4x200 free relay he was part of earned a spot in states.
“It really opened my eyes to how much work is necessary to get to states,” he said.
That spring he was back on the baseball diamond as a member of the jayvee team, but he also made the decision to swim with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club.
“Ever since I was young, I always loved baseball,” Freeman said. “When I was around seven, my mom got me to swim for the Upper Moreland Swim Club.
“I went back and forth between baseball and swimming. My sophomore year I trained a lot more for baseball than I had for swimming. I played jayvee that year, and I kind of fell out of love with baseball and started to love swimming so much more. I had a lot more fun swimming”
Freeman’s decision to swim year round with UDAC altered the course of his career.
“Swimming has been such a passion since my sophomore year,” he said. “My freshman year I didn’t make districts, and my sophomore year I made districts by a couple hundredths of a second.”
As a junior and senior, Freeman medalled in districts in both his individual events – the 50 and 100 free, showing improvement each year.
“For swimming, if you work hard, you get what you put in,” Freeman said. “That’s what I love so much about swimming.
“In baseball, you can just walk up to the plate, swing a bat and hit a home run. People don’t understand that for swimming, you can’t just get in a pool and expect to go fast. You have to work hard and train for it.”
Working hard is something that came naturally to Freeman.
“If you said, get in the pool at the top, he was in the pool before the top,” Rowland said. “if you said, be in the pool by 5:15, he’s be in the pool at 5:10 in the morning.
“He actually practiced so much – he would leave us and go to Upper Dublin. I said, ‘Mike, I appreciate what you’re doing, but you’re putting too many yards in.’ We actually told him twice during the season, ‘You’re not allowed to come to practice.’ He looked at us, and I said, ‘You’re not allowed to come to practice. You have to go home and rest because your body needs rest just as much as it needs practice.’”
Freeman acknowledged that on occasion he had to rein in his desire to practice.
“I would train so hard to try and get my best times, and I wouldn’t get my best times, and I would get mad at myself,” he said. “Then I would come back to the pool and train harder and that would get me more tired.
“The next day I would have a meet and wouldn’t get the time I wanted. It was just a revolving circle. I would want to go fast, and I would train harder, but it would get me more tired.”
Freeman points to Hatboro-Horsham standout Michael Thomas as his inspiration.
“He’s a tremendous swimmer, and he and a couple of my friends broke a national age group record,” Freeman said. “He’s a hard worker, and I base my hard work off of him.
“People who are not swimmers don’t understand how hard we work to try to get the times we want.”
Freeman leaves Upper Moreland with his name on the record board – a member of the 4x200 medley relay that broke the program’s 16-year-old record last year.
“It was really amazing,” he said. “When I walked in on the first day of practice this season, it was like – I’m going to be on that board for however many years.
“When I was a freshman, I actually never looked up at that board. Now I have a record.”
It’s the kind of story that makes coaching a rewarding experience.
“He’s a kid that has gone far simply because of his heart, because he wanted it more,” Rowland said.
The veteran coach credits Freeman and fellow veterans Kane Nelson and Iain Smith for leading the Golden Bears to their first district title.
“They knew we could win districts, and they were pumping the team, pumping the team, and pumping the team,” Rowland said. “They were a huge part of the fact that we kept these kids going in January when it was rough and we missed a day when it would snow.
“It would snow again, and we’d miss another day – okay, it’s not going to snow Sunday, guys, we need to come in, and they made sure (the younger swimmers) got in.”
Freeman will continue his swimming career at Marywood University where he will be a biology major with his sights set on one day becoming a cardiologist – his uncle is a cardiologist, and his mother is a nurse in the cardiology unit at Abington.
An excellent student, Freeman is a member of the National Honor Society and takes a full course load of AP and honors classes.
“I’ve always pushed myself because my sister actually got an academic scholarship to St. Joe’s, and I pushed myself to be better than her,” Freeman said.
Despite a rigorous schedule, Freeman still finds time to work one day a week at Slack’s Hoagie Shack. He acknowledges that swimming has helped him grow as a person, and no one is happier he made the decision to stay with the sport than his coach.
“This young man as a freshman made a decision, and we were real lucky he made the decision for swimming,” Rowland said. “I know there’s going to be a hole not having him there next year. I will miss him a lot.”
