Newtown Resident Is A Hall-Of-Famer

By Andy Hutchison

More than 20 years after she graduated from college, the swimming accolades have not stopped coming in for Cindy Freedman. A national champion diver in college, Freedman (who was then Cindy Miller) was recently inducted into the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Athletics Hall of Fame.

Freedman joined three other alums who were selected and took part in a hall of fame induction as part of a UWM Student-Athlete Award Reception this spring. She earned national acclaim during her time as a collegiate diver, receiving All-America honors throughout her career.

Freedman claimed a NAIA National Championship on the one-meter board in her senior year of 1987. She also finished third on the three-meter board at the NAIA Nationals that same year, adding to an extensive list of national-level performances. Freedman collected a second-place finish on the one-meter board during the 1986 NAIA National Championships and claimed a top-six finish on the three-meter board that same year. Prior to coming to UWM, Freedman earned All-America status at UW-Eau Claire, claiming a national title on the one-meter board.

“So many years later it means more,” said Freedman, 44, who along with her husband, Jeff, has three children, Zoe, Chloe and Bo.

The hall of fame induction served as a reunion of sorts, as Freedman’s old roommates and friends attended. It was the first time they had seen each other in two decades. “It was refreshing and fun,” Freedman said.

The circumstances under which the former UMW diver found out she was chosen were a little unusual.

“They e-mailed me on April Fools Day — I thought it was a joke,” she said.

The UWM officials who contacted Freedman, however, were obviously serious — much like Freedman was when she practiced every day, sometimes twice each day, during her competitive diving years. Freedman also excelled in the classroom, collecting NAIA Academic All-America honors during her junior and senior years. She earned her undergraduate degree in recreational therapy from UWM and received a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Nova Southeastern University.

Her efforts in the pool, as well as those in the classroom, continue to pay dividends to this day. Freedman makes a living in the water with a career directly linked to her academic studies. In addition to coaching diving at Newtown High School, Freedman owns and operates Angelfish Therapy, which uses the pool to treat patients with a variety of motor skill problems.

“I’m still in the water,” Freedman said. “I never would have thought it would turn out like that.”