Choosing the right college after high school is a very difficult decision. There are many options and a lot of deciding factors that go into making that choice. An athlete might go to a university for a couple of years and then see things not working out before deciding to go to another college.
For newcomer Frankie DeMaria of the Eastern Michigan University swimming and diving team, he can say he has been to two colleges during his athletic career.
DeMaria is a native of Nishkayuna, N.Y., and took up competitive swimming at 8 years old. He has even competed at the national level going all the way to junior nationals at 10.
During his high school years, he was a four-time varsity letter winner. In his swim club, he set 25 different records.
For his choices of college, DeMaria was considering Eastern Michigan along with North Carolina State and Missouri State. After his senior year, he committed to the Bears of Missouri State.
“It was kind of a timing thing during my freshman year,” DeMaria said of his college choice. “I started talking
to Eastern a little too late, and I went [to Missouri State] in my freshman year, and it didn’t work out.”
DeMaria swam for Missouri State for two years and competed in seven events. During those two years, he finished
in the top five in the 200-yard butterfly, 1,000 and 500 freestyle events.
In his freshman year, he began setting his top-personal times at the 2009 Purdue Invitational in the 500 freestyle (4:41.52), 1,650 freestyle (16:44.36) and 200 butterfly (1:58.09).
In 2010, he had a top-personal time against Truman (Mo.) State in the 1,000 freestyle (10:04.26).
In order to seek a better training regimen that would be a good fit for him, he began talking with EMU again and transferred here for this semester.
“I was really close to coming here my senior year in high school,” DeMaria said. “I liked what he had to say, came out for a visit and everything worked.”
Like any swimmer competing at the college level, DeMaria enjoys the competitive aspect of the sport and racing against other swimmers.
“I love to race, especially those long distance races,” DeMaria said.
DeMaria’s top times with EMU came from the 500 freestyle (4:53.38) and 1,000 freestyle (10:01.88) events with both coming from a meet against Northwestern on Oct. 21.
When away from the pool and not busy with schoolwork, DeMaria likes to play video games and watch movies. He is a junior pursuing a major in business administration.
