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Michael Andrew swims at the 2015 FINA Junior World Championships in Singapore. Andrew placed first in the men's 50-meter race.
CONTRIBUTED
BRIANNA CHILDERS
@KansanNews
When 16-year-old Michael Andrew wakes up on a typical weekday, it's not in preparation for going to school.
Instead, Andrew wakes up and walks to the pool. He passes by quotes and pictures on the wall. One of them: "Swimming is not what I do. It's what I am."
Andrew stands over six feet tall. He steps up on the diving block and gets into position. Focused and ready, he curves his body, keeps his head down and places his feet in the perfect position. As he dives, his body cuts through the water in a motion that can only be described as effortless — what his grandma calls "poetry in motion."
Andrew may look like a typical teen, but while trying to graduate high school, he's breaking national records in swimming, setting him apart from the rest of his peers. Not only that, he's also training for one of his biggest goals in life: swimming in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
At 14, when most students his age are tackling their first year of high school, Andrew turned pro and broke Michael Phelps's record at that age in the 200-meter individual medley by two and a half seconds.
"It's pretty cool to think about, but I try not to let it get to my head," he said.
Andrew started swimming when he was seven in Aberdeen, S.D., where he quickly advanced in the swim program. Some might say swimming was in his blood; his dad swam when he lived in South Africa.
A year after moving to South Dakota, Andrew and his family left because of issues with the swim team. Since then, he has been training on his own.
"The whole swim team in South Dakota was like a family, and they wouldn't listen to anything we had to share, so it was easier to do something on our own," said Peter Andrew, Michael's dad.
Peter, who is also Michael's swim coach, explained that their plan after South Dakota was to move to Australia, but they couldn't because of issues surrounding their green cards.
While Lawrence was never a part of the plan, Peter and Tina Andrew — Michael's mom and manager — said they fell in love with the town after visiting.
At the time, Michael was doing a swimming tour around the country. The family stopped in Lawrence to rent a place so he could swim, but once the Andrews got here, they realized it was a place where they could settle down.
Though they have been in Lawrence for a few years, Michael has already left his mark. He broke his first national record in the pool at Lawrence Free State High School — the 10-and-under 50-yard freestyle national age group record.
Andrew swims at the high school pool but he doesn't attend public school. He has been homeschooled since the 6th grade. However, he attended Free State his freshman year so he could play football.
Though Michael seems to be breaking records left and right, his journey has not been easy.
"When I first went pro. I was excited, but for the first three months it was really tough because I started to put a lot of pressure on myself" he said. "I thought I had to be better than
the older guy and I had to win every race."
He remembers feeling nervous and fearing failure. Only after he attended a retreat did he realize he was not defined by the success in his sport.
Tina said that while Michael was struggling, she doubted whether they had made the right decision. All of the negative posts online about Michael was something they took very personally.
"Now when I read something negative, I literally pray over it and turn it into a blessing," Tina said.
Despite the negative comments, Michael still persevered.
"Obviously going to the Olympics is a goal but once I'm there, if I just live in that moment, what do I have to live for after?"
MICHAEL ANDREW Professional Swimmer
"When I turned pro at the age of 14, that year was a big turning point and I started to have a real joy for swimming. Apart from that, everything was extremely exciting," Michael said.
Although he has swam professionally for two years, he admits going to the Olympics is an entirely different ball game — but something he has always wanted to do.
The Andrew family knew that when Michael turned professional, there was the possibility of not being able to swim in high school or college.
"By going pro, I ended up giv
ing up my eligibility for swimming in high school or college and that was something we thought about," Michael said. "I can still go to college, I just can't compete, but my goals lay further beyond that and the Olympics."
Michael uses a training method that is unusual for most swimmers: Ultra-Short Race-Pace Training, or USRPT.
As for going to college in a couple of years, Michael said that he would like to study cinematography or photography.
"Everything is science and race-specific training," Michael said. "In a traditional training program, the average yardage is 7,000. With USRPT, we are lucky if we get to 2,500 yards of practice."
Peter explained that race-specific means Michael practices at the speed of an actual race.
"If we are training for the 100 [yard] free, we train at the speed he will race at so when he goes into the race he's already done it a thousand times and he dives in and does it"
One of the benefits of USRPT is that Michael's body never goes into a fatigued state, his father said.
Peter said Michael's aerobic system functions maximally the whole time because as soon as his aerobic system starts to abate, he starts to accumulate lactate and it locks down the body.
Tina added that they are still learning and figuring things out.
"There is a lot of value in character building to go over and a lot of people think it's easy training, but it's not," Tina said. "It's intense and short and really hard."
"People think we are weird and crazy," Peter said. "And maybe we are crazy. We are
though; we love our kids."
At meets, people often come up to Peter and tell him how good Michael'is, but it's what happens when he gets up to go swim that makes him stand out.
"He gets up there and prays and that's when kids say, 'watch him, watch him.' Peter said. "It's a massive witnessing, and it's really not about swimming. It affects people's lives."
Michael said his faith plays a big role in not only swimming, but everything in his life.
"Faith is everything," Michael said. "I know that God gives life and without God and what he has done for my family and I, there would be no point in swimming or being here."
Michael also gets a lot of support from his family. Peter and Tina said they realized from day one that their son had the ability for great success.
"We are big dreamers and from day one, we realized that Michael had been blessed, and we always envisioned big things," Tina said.
Tina said she and Peter always knew that Michael turning pro and breaking records was something he was capable of. Even though Michael is doing all of this at only 16 years old, his mom doesn't think that the pressure of it all could become too much.
"Swimming could never be a pressure because when he gets in the pool and he doesn't make a time that he wants and trains for, he knows that," Tina said.
In addition to skill, Michael has a massive platform and fans all over the world, his father said.
"He definitely has a talent in the pool, but it's not even that," Peter said. "People like Michael not so much because he's
Michael Andrew displays his silver medal he won in the 50-meter freestyle.
CONTRIBUTED
Tina said she wants to see Michael inspire kids not to be swimmers but to be respectful of their parents and to do whatever they do with excellence.
a champion, but; because he's a normal, everyday kid."
"I will never forget the first big meet we went to after Michael went pro and we spoke with a dad who said he wished he could believe in his kid as much as we do." Tina said.
While both his parents have lofty goals for their son, Michael just wants to show kids that you can have fun outside of swimming.
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