OLIVER FREEMAN, DOB 11.01.86
Sport is in my blood, with relatives including an England International footballer and a Junior International Swimmer (being my dad!). From a young age I enjoyed lots of sports, including football, tennis, running and swimming. When I was 7, a local triathlon club held a Kids' Triathlon at our school, and my sister, Henny, entered and came 2nd, without really knowing what was going on (illustrated by the putting on of socks in T1!). The next year, we both did a Kids' Triathlon in Dover, and both won, and that was where it really all started.
Over the next few years we religiously traipsed around the country competing in any Kid's triathlon we could find, and found continued success. Meanwhile, under the guidance of my pro-active school Dulwich Prep School (Cranbrook, Kent) and coach Peter Brenchley, I started to move up the county and national ranks as a cross-country runner. By the time I was 13, and about to leave Dulwich, I had won the National Tri-Star Triathlon series a few times, and moved swimming club to RTW Monson (Tunbridge Wells, Kent), and was starting to push into the top 10 in the country as a cross-country runner.
My secondary school was 'Tonbridge School', where Maths teacher/Welsh international runner Huw Evans helped me take my running to a new level. In my first year I got into the English Schools' Junior Cross Country Team, and won my final Tri-Star National Triathlon Title. The next year I moved up to the youth age-group as a triathlete, and won the nationals that year. I missed out a second year as a youth in 2002, and instead moved straight into the Junior age-group. My final 3 years at Tonbridge were spent in this age-group, and I moved from 5th to 3rd to 1st in the European Champs through this time. I also picked up a World Duathlon title, and a National Youth Cross-Country title, and competed in my first senior race, coming 5th at the 2004 National Elite Champs. Meanwhile, I managed 11 A*s at GCSE and 4 As at A-Level, along with a place at Cambridge University.
After leaving school, I decided to take a gap year, which co-incided with my 4th and final year as a Junior. I moved down to Eastbourne to enable me to do all of my training with my coach Glenn Cook and his club Bodyworks XTC. The season was mixed with highs and lows, with National and European Triathlon titles and a World Junior Duathlon Title, but I missed out on the main season goal, the World Junior Triathlon title.
In 2006, I moved into a flat and decided to postpone a degree to concentrate on being a full-time athlete. I had a great season, which set me up for an awesome start to 2007, where I got 2 top 5s in my first two World Cups of the season. However, a broken foot at the European Champs (and then a subsequent foot injury) meant I was out of action for 6 months, and missed Worlds and Olympic Games qualifier #1 and #2...but at least I was able to salvage a 7th at the last World Cup of the year in Israel, and set my sights on a great 2008...
2008 SEASON
2007 SEASON
2006 SEASON
JUNIOR (U20) ACHIEVEMENTS
YOUTH (U17) ACHIEVEMENTS
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS