Eric Friese in action for the Gators during the 2020 season. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Gators In Olympic Games: Eric Friese
Tuesday, July 20, 2021 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter, Olympics
Share:
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- He was new to the Florida men's swimming program, but German import Eric Friese made a strong impression at one of his first workouts.
Rewind to late summer 2019 as the Gators took part in a training session for the upcoming season. Associate head coach Stephen Jungbluth, busy with monitoring several workout groups, recalls turning toward the pool and noticing that one swimmer was well ahead of the rest of the athletes in his group.
He joked to himself that maybe former Gators All-American and Olympic medalist Caeleb Dressel had shown up that day to work on his stroke.
Instead, when the swimmer surfaced from the water and Jungbluth could tell who it was, he was surprised to see Friese. At that time, Friese had just arrived in the U.S. and was nowhere close to peak form based on his numbers with the German National Team the previous year.
It was one of those moments that a coach remembers for what might become.
"It was Eric. I thought, 'Oh my god, this guy will be really good.' It's not often that you can mistake someone for Caeleb," Jungbluth told FloridaGators.com last spring.
Now, fast forward two years and Friese, who recently completed his sophomore season with the Gators, is headed to Tokyo as a member of the German Olympic Team.
He got off to a good start at Florida, and based on his trajectory, Friese could be just getting started in his career.
Eric Friese, center with no shirt, landed with the Gators after sending a long-shot email to head coach Anthony Nesty from his bedroom in Germany. (Photo: Madeline Carter/UAA Communications)
AT A GLANCE Gators swimmer Eric Friese as a boy in Germany. (Photo: Courtesy of Friese family) SPORT: Swimming
EVENT: 4x100-meter freestyle relay
HOW HE QUALIFIED: Friese swam a personal-best 49.05 seconds in the 100 free final at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, Calif., to earn a spot on the German relay team for the Tokyo Olympics by posting the second-fastest German time in the event this season. Friese placed second in the April 11 race behind Nathan Adrian (48.74), a five-time Olympic gold medalist for the U.S.
TOKYO SCHEDULE: The men's 4x100 relay heats are scheduled July 25; Olympic Final is July 26.
UF CAREER: Friese set personal-bests in three events at the NCAA Championships in March, finishing seventh in the 100 fly, ninth in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 free.
NEED TO KNOW: Late in high school and interested in improving as a swimmer, Friese took a shot by sending an email to Gators head coach Anthony Nesty. Four months later, Friese was at Florida having never visited campus until the day he arrived to start school.
