Grace Freeman

School: Cape Central

Sport: Swimming

Coach: Dayna Powell

Week Report: Freeman, a senior, anchored a 400 freestyle relay team which took first at the Springfield Invitational on Saturday. Central's team of Jennifer Freeze, Jean Maguire, Mary Beth Owen and Freeman finished the race with a time of 3:42.81, breaking a meet record and coming just short of a school record. The first-place finish also nudged Central into third place in one of the toughest meets in the state. Freeman also anchored the 200 free relay team to a first-place time of 1:44.19. Individually, Freeman won the 200 freestyle and took second in the 50 free at Springfield. In a home meet against Lutheran North, Freeman took first in the 50 and the 200 freestyle.

Season Report: Freeman's second-place finish in the 50 free last weekend marked the first time this season she had been beaten in that event. With her anchoring, the 400 and 200 relay teams have never finished worse than second. Freeman, who plans to attend the Naval Academy and swim, has qualified for state in nine different events in her first three years and this year has posted state-qualifying times in every event except the 100 back. Freeman was on Cape Central's 400 freestyle state championship team of 1996.

Coach's Comments: "A lot of swimmers aren't loyal to high school swimming," Powell said. "But she really promotes it to other students and shows a lot of pride. She rises to occasions when she has tough competition. She can swim in any event, but really likes the freestyles."