TITUSVILLE, Fla. --- When he looks at his long list of high school athletic accomplishments, swimmer Freddie Cole sees an invitation to keep getting better. 

A regular at the Florida's 2A State meet over the past few years, Cole chose Biola after a thorough recruiting process and is brimming with optimism about his college experience. He's more than ready to chase after big goals in the pool while being in a Christian community that embraces his commitment to orient his life around following Jesus. 

"I proudly chose Biola University because of how deep in the Spirit everything is, and because of great things that can be accomplished through including God in every single step of the way," said Cole. "I firmly believe that Biola University is the perfect place for me to pursue my endeavors as a Christian student-athlete, and as a holy man of Christ that I am called to be."
 
Cole joins Head Coach Ryan Kauth's program after being named an All-Cape Coast Conference swimmer three times and earning one of Florida Today's seven selections for the 2019 All-Space Coast team. The sprint-event specialist swam the breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle at the FHSAA 2A State Championships over the past three years and qualified for the finals in the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay. 
 
All those performances came after Cole qualified for Regionals in three events as a freshman and won a District championship in the 100 butterfly as a sophomore. 
 
Cole and his Cocoa High School teammates finished as the 2019 State runner-up in the 400 freestyle relay and improved upon the school record they set the previous year in that relay by 4.50 seconds. He also set the Cocoa program record for the 100 breaststroke (59.21) in addition to the records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke that Cole holds on his club swim team. 
 
The Rocoa Rockets club team also saw Cole leadoff a 2019 Southern Zones Age Group championship in the 200 meter freestyle relay. That title came after Cole qualified for the NCSA Junior Nationals in the 200 breaststroke a few months earlier and punctuates a list of club accolades that includes Florida Zone All-Star team honors in 2018 and 2019. 
 
Cole hopes to train toward Olympic Time Trial Standard qualification during his time at Biola and would like to be a swim coach himself in the future. In the meantime, he hopes to make an immediate impact for his new team: Cole's best times in breaststroke and butterfly sprint events over the past 18 months would have earned at least 50 points at the 2020 PCSC Championships had he competed at the meet. 
 
More information on the rest of the student-athletes that will join Freddie Cole at Biola in 2020-21 can be found on the Committed Athletes page.