Damian Friebel had one of the best championship meets on record in the recent Boys 8&U, winning all eight of his individual races at the Middle Atlantic Swim Championship.
Damian Friebel is a 9-year-old kid who’s always been on the move.
Just ask his parents, Damian T. and Allison Friebel, who have steered his energy into positive activities from a young age.
“Damian has always strived to be fast, even from a very young age,” Allison recalled. “He wants to go fast in everything he does … bike riding, roller skating, running and especially swimming … He’s always looking for a race.”
So, it’s not surprising that Damian went into the two-day Middle Atlantic Swim Championship recently to win. The Jersey Wahoos host the championship at Gloucester County Technical Institute in Sewell, which is the capstone of the winter swim season.
And although Damian’s nerves did kick in before his first race, they quickly went away once he picked up his first gold.
“Once I won, I said, ‘OK, just swim,'” he recounted.
Swimming with the Mount Laurel YMCA Pheonix, Damian had one of the best championship meets on record in the Boys 8&U, winning all eight of his individual races: 25-meter butterfly, 50-meter butterfly, 100-meter butterfly, 25-meter breast, 100-meter breast, 50-meter back and 100-meter back.
He also participated in two 100-meter relays swimming the breaststroke. One relay garnered first place and one relay, the team came in third.
Damian began swimming when he was 4, following the path of his older sisters, Cassidy, 14, and Melanie, 12, also accomplished swimmers at the Y. He joined the Pheasant Run Swim Club and its Y team when he was 6. The Pheasant Run season runs from the end of May to the first week of August; winter swim at the Y runs from September to the beginning of May.
“When he started at the Y in the winter, when he was 6 turning 7, I think that’s when the strokes started to click for him,” Allison noted. “He got an award for most improved.”
At the beginning of each season at the Y, swimmers participate in time trials in all strokes. Damian can swim fast in all of them, but in time trials when he was 7, he found out he was pretty fast in the butterfly.
During the season, practice runs an hour and 15 minutes Monday and Wednesday and an hour-and-a half on Friday and Sunday. Swim meets are held on Saturdays, and it’s up to the swimmer to decide what they would like to participate in.
Damian won five first-place medals in his first experience at the Middle Atlantic Swim Championship last year. This year, he came in wanting to win the maximum of eight medals and become a high-point winner.
“Last year, we didn’t realize in order to (be recognized as a) high-point winner, you had to swim more races,” Damian’s father explained. “Each time you compete in a race, if you win, you get a certain amount of points.”
As for next year, Damian would like to continue his win streak for the MLY Pheonix. This summer, he will work on shaving off two seconds to break the current 25-meter butterfly record at Pheasant Run.
Damian is in the third grade at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School and excels in both reading and math. When he is not in the pool, he enjoys playing soccer for the Cinnaminson Soccer Club’s travel team and basketball with St. Charles Borromeo CYO. This year, he has also picked up flag football.
Another one of his speedy hobbies is skiing, which he’s been doing since he was 3, Allison said, and “has gotten quite quick.”
“Overall, he’s a kid who’s always on the move and has lots of energy we’ve tried to direct into positive activities,” she noted. “Swimming has been an incredible outlet for him as far as that goes. He works very hard in the pool.”
And Damian has a whole stash of medals and trophies to show for it.
