End of an era

Everything was falling into place. On March 12, Geena Freriks went through her normal practice routine in the swimming pool. She was a little more than 90 days from a moment she spent her life working toward: The U.S. Olympic Trials, which would determine the team to travel to the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. But instincts told Freriks, a lifelong Norwalk resident, something was amiss. "We got through practice, but the atmosphere was not the same as it usually was," said Freriks, a multi-time SEC champion and record-breaking swimmer at the University of Kentucky. "The coaches were quiet, huddled up a lot and not being too interactive," she said. "Personally, I knew that something weird was going on." As it turned out, Freriks had unknowingly finished her final competitive practice of her career. The coronavirus pandemic canceled everything, starting with the NCAA championships for her former UK teammates. The Olympics held out for a few weeks, but were ultimately postponed to 2021. After finishing her UK career in March 2019, Freriks had stayed in Lexington and added a minor in business to go along with her dietetics degree, extending her undergrad schedule to five years. "The sole purpose I continued to swim an additional 15 months after my senior year was the training to compete at the Olympic Trials in June," Freriks said. After some time to weigh a tough decision of whether or not to continue, the former 10-time All-Ohioan at Norwalk and Sandusky has chosen to call it a career. "I have decided to move on from swimming," Freriks said. "It hasn't been easy to accept the fact that I've been competing in a pool for over 15 years, and now I'm done. I stay hopeful that a great opportunity is ahead of me and it will all work out, but it just isn't the way I wanted things to end. "I will forever be in love with swimming and will most likely get back in the pool a few times a week once it opens — just because I won't be able to stay away." Freriks said initially, her and many swimmers alike figured pools would be closed for a few weeks. Once it became months, she knew it was over. The most amount of time Freriks is out of the water during the 365 days in a year is 10 at the most, she said. "I never knew I would be out of the water for three-plus months," she said. "I knew it would be extremely hard to bounce back from such a long break. There was no official date for the postponement (of the Trials) until a few weeks later, so a lot of options went through my head." The cancellation of the NCAAs was just a few days ahead of spring break at Kentucky. Freriks had planned to train at Indiana University during the week of NCAAs, but then everything was canceled. From there, Freriks and three of her friends who were also competitive swimmers went to Sarasota, Fla. in an attempt to get away from the situation — but also attempt to stay in shape. One of those friends was UK teammate Ali Galyer, who had already qualified for the New Zealand Olympic team for 2020. The other two friends were set to also be highly-competitive swimmers at the U.S. Trials as well. As they practiced, there was little news about the state of the Trials — which were scheduled for June 21-28 in Omaha, Neb. Freriks was trying to remain hopeful and just live in the moment. But at the end of March, the Olympics announcement came. "My heart instantly dropped, and doubt flooded my mind," she said. "I was absolutely defeated." Making matters worse, what will go down as her last official competitive race wasn't a great weekend for Freriks. She competed in the USA TYR Pro Swim Series in Des Moines, Iowa, which was held March 4-7. "Iowa was not my best meet, which happens," Freriks said. "You're not going to swim your fastest or have best times every time you compete — but I never get too discouraged. My parents (Tim and Lisa) decided not to come to Iowa, and that was maybe the third meet they have ever missed during my five years at Kentucky. "And my head coach (Lars Jorgensen) also stayed back in Lexington to train the individuals that were going to NCAAs a few weeks later," she added. "It's crazy to think that my last meet wasn't the best performance, which didn't happen too often, and my parents weren't there, which almost never happened — and my head coach wasn't there, which was the only meet I competed at without him." With a light course load in the classroom, Freriks' main focus this past school year in Kentucky was her training. "I went from being a captain my junior and senior year, to shifting my focus less on leading the team and more on leading myself this last year," she said. "Although I was not technically on the team, I think this year was my favorite of all. They supported me, pushed me, held me accountable, and most importantly believed in me more than ever. "I really enjoyed stepping back from the team and watching them develop this year. Cheering them on, giving the freshmen racing advice and being the wise one of the group was a lot of fun." After a decorated high school career, Freriks really took off competing in the high-level SEC for the Wildcats. She won two SEC individual championships in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles — the first multi-time league champion male or female since 1999 at UK. Freriks was also a 10-time NCAA All-American across all four years. She left UK with five individual long-course records and four individual short-course records. Freriks, who also contributed to four program-record relays, swam a 9:30.78 time in the 1,000-yard freestyle on Feb. 1, 2019. It was the 19th-fastest time in the world ever recorded, according to usaswimming.com. But the last three months also showed Freriks how fortunate she was to have finished her collegiate career when she did. "My heart is truly broken for the athletes across the world," she said. "I watched my best friends train and race since they were freshmen, and they ended their career with not being able to compete at NCAAs or the Trials. It's been really hard to find a new normal, and I find myself thinking about swimming and even dreaming about it." That is why Freriks has constantly told people around her that she doesn't regret staying at Lexington and training for another year. Her favorite days were the ones that began at 5:15 a.m.. She would swim for two hours, eat 1,500 calories for breakfast, go to school for four hours, then swim for another two-plus hours, sandwich homework around two more meals and return home at 8:30 p.m. ready to do it all over again. "Because I absolutely love swimming," she said. "I'm really going to miss the fast-paced environment as a student-athlete and all the people involved in my everyday life. I've stayed very positive throughout this change in my life, because I know there are many people losing loved ones, taking care of the sick, and getting worse things taken from them. I believe that as an athlete, we are all in this together and will come out even stronger." As she attempted to accept the finality of her career, Freriks found herself reflecting on a love for a sport that began as a little kid inside the Ernsthausen Aquatic Center in Norwalk. "Everyone that I have crossed paths with from then to now has helped me in some sort of way, and Kentucky will always have my heart," Freriks said. "Kentucky not only developed as a swimmer, but as a person. " I am forever grateful for the opportunities, memories, friendships, and lessons that I am walking away with," she added. "I am currently job searching during this crazy time and there are a lot of unknowns ahead of me. But I will continue to stay encouraged, optimistic, and confident that I will find my way."