Record breaking Freeman lives swimming dream
Naledi Lemogang | Friday February 24, 2017 15:36
One of the swimmers who brought joy to the country is 16-year-old James Freeman.
Freeman, who was born in Palapye but now residing in Pretoria, told Mmegi Sport this week that he grew up admiring his sister, Robin Freeman in the pool.
He said that instilled a sense of determination to become a swimmer. He has risen through the ranks and in Zimbabwe, he smashed two records on his way to winning nine of the 14 medals that the country amassed. Freeman set new times in the boys’ (15-16 years old) 200m butterfly with 2:13.68 and 200m individual medley (2:17.97).
“I broke records in the 200m freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200m individual medley. This was the peak of my performance. It was an indication that my training was spot on. I am determined to continue working hard to achieve more,” said the excited Freeman from his Pretoria base.
Freeman was introduced to the sport at a competitive level while doing Standard One at Kgaswe Primary School in Palapye. At Standard Five, he moved to Thornhill Primary School in Gaborone and was fortunate enough to be coached full time by Darrell Morton. He flourished under his expert coaching as he was challenged by other swimmers at the school. “Throughout my primary school, I won all events in district galas as well as winning gold in all 14 individual events and age group champion every year. Morton advised my parents to take me to South African swimming competitions to develop me further and I did well,” he said.
In 2015, he won the South African national 3km open water championship in the 13-year-old age group and won many medals regionally. Freeman said one of the highlights of his career was winning a silver medal in the 100m freestyle at the African Junior Championships held in Egypt in 2015. Freeman is currently swimming for Tuks Swimming Club under coach Rocco Meiring in South Africa. “The competition in South Africa is very tough but under his coaching I have begun to break some South African records and it drives me to improve my times continuously,” he said.
The Palapye-born swimmer said swimming at Kgaswe was always a challenge as the pool was not heated during winter.
Freeman said swimming is tough and requires a lot of time and therefore a lot of sacrifices are made such as giving up other sports that are part of the child’s social life. Staying motivated is also a very big challenge when you train 10 times a week and gym two times a week. He believes that swimming does not only build a character but it tests it. He said he is grateful and thankful for the support he gets from his family and friends.
“I find the standard of swimming in Botswana high although we have few swimmers compared to other countries. Botswana is very lucky to have many good coaches that are consistently producing quality swimmers such as our Olympians David van der Colff and Naomi Ruele,” he said.
Freeman said he is continually working towards representing Botswana at international events and said he was honoured to be selected as a nominee for the Botswana junior sportsman of the year in 2016. His goal is to represent Botswana at the Junior Olympics and ultimately at the Olympic Games.
FACT FILE
Full names: James Freeman
Date of birth: March 28, 2001
Gender: Male
Home village: Palapye
Sport: Swimming
Club: Tusk Swimming Club
Favourite meal: A good burger and steak
Role model: Michael Phelps (US swimmer)