Fastest Swimmer in GA may be most humble

Note, the following piece was the cover story in this week's Score Atlanta-Cobb Prep edition. To read the rest of the issue, find the link at the bottom of this page

To watch Kennesaw Mountain high school senior swimmer Michael Arnold practice is to watch Tiger Woods play putt-putt. The artist is applying his skills, but not quite unleashing his mastery of the game. Arnold is truly a master when put in the pool and against a clock. He has already won the 50-yard freestyle state title. He has already set multiple school and county records. He already won the 50 long freestyle at nationals and competed as a member of the United State National Junior team. And he already qualified for the Olympic Trials. And that was BEFORE he entered his senior year.
But the best quality about Arnold may be the fact that he is so humble. Some Olympic swimmers seem to have a sense of arrogance about them (see: Gary Hall and Ian Thorpe), but that is not the case with Arnold. He began swimming year-round in eighth grade and last weekend at state championships he was set to defend his state title in the 50 free. Before the race Arnold burned to defend his state title. “It would be the perfect cap to my high school career to win it back to back.” Cap it he did. Again he took home top honors in his best events as he set two pool records with a 20.67 in the 50 freestyle and was once again hailed as the “fastest swimmer in the state.” Arnold admits that sometimes he will peak into other lanes while swimming to check out his competition. “I guess technically I am the fastest, but it is against a clock. I like swimming against others.”
Arnold is gearing up for swimming on the next level, as he will attend the University of Georgia, but first comes the Olympic Trials. Though he is quick to point out that his chances are slim of making the team, he very well could surprise himself. This past January he competed in the Victorian Championships in Australia as a member of the US Junior team and he finished eighth in the 100m fly. He was also ranked seventh in the world among 17-and-unders in the 50-free as of late November. In order to qualify for the Olympic trials, male swimmers must beat a 23.49 time and Arnold squashed that by swimming a 23.35. In swimming time, .14 is an eternity. He says even if he does come up short for the Olympic team, it still will be fun trying. “I am looking forward to the experience. I don’t weight train that much, so I am at a disadvantage, but you never know.” Arnold predicts that his best swimming may be ahead of him, once he has started lifting weights in college.
At Georgia, he will look to help the Swim Dawgs become national players on the sprint level. When he signed on with Georgia, he knew that his second choice Auburn has the better sprint program-for now, but he hopes he can help the team improve. “I hope that my going in there and pushing those guys, and them pushing me, I know we will get better. But Georgia just felt like family when I went there to visit.” Georgia will certainly be able to use Arnold, who is a member of the No. 1 ranked relay team in the country. His Chattahoochee Gold Swim Team offers him the competition he seeks, but he still loves swimming for Kennesaw Mountain Coach David Reason. “Club swimming is good, but the meets are sometimes three or six months apart. Coach Reason lets me swim whenever my schedule lets me with Club [swimming] and homework. And I like the crowds and the pride with school swimming.”
The Mustang coaches all believe Arnold to be a team player and he proved how much of one he was recently in the County Championships. He swam in, and won two events that weren’t necessarily his specialty and he did it to help the young Mustangs earn enough points to finish third. “It is important for me, as a senior to be a leader, emotionally and physically. Some of the younger guys come in and sort of know who I am. That pushes them to work hard and get better.”
After he said that, again the humble Arnold reappeared. He tried to rephrase his answer because he felt that one was too cocky. For a kid with Olympic-sized talent, it is nice to know Michael Arnold still has a kiddie-pool sized ego.