Two mornings from now, Michael Brinegar will line up on the starting blocks at Olympic Aquatics Centre in Tokyo to fulfill a lifelong dream.
The 21-year-old from Columbus will make his Olympic debut 6,500 miles from home against the top swimmers in the world. He will swim in the prelims of the 800-meter freestyle at 7:37 a.m. EST Tuesday and the prelims of the 1,500 freestyle at 6:48 a.m. Friday.
The 800 final is at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, and the 1,500 final is at 9:44 p.m. Saturday. The prelims will be on USA Network, and the finals will be on NBC.
“We’re just really proud of him,” Brinegar’s father Jamie said. “He’s had a goal in mind for years, and he’s worked hard for this and he’s made it. We’re very proud of him for being able to do that.”
Michael and the rest of the U.S. team have been in Tokyo since July 11. They have been in Training Camp II after doing Training Camp I in Hawaii following the Olympic trials.
The athletes moved into the Olympic Village on Monday. Jamie said he and his wife Jennifer have texted with Michael only a couple times since USA Swimming asked the families to limit their contact so they could focus on their training for the games.
“As far as we know, it’s all gone smoothly,” Jamie said. “He said the Olympic Village is really nice. The food they have for them is good, and training has gone really, really well.”
Michael is sharing a room with Patrick Callan, who swims at Michigan. They have known each other for several years since they met at a USA Swimming Select camp.
In Hawaii, Michael roomed with Zach Apple, who was a senior at Indiana University when Michael was a freshman there.
“He’s been really pleased with the housing situation,” Jamie said.
COVID concerns
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were pushed back a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. No fans are being allowed at this year’s games.
That means Jamie and Jennifer didn’t get to make the trip to Japan. They plan to watch from home, possibly with Jamie’s mother, who lives in Bloomington.
“It’s disappointing, but we’re just so happy that they’re actually having an Olympics,” Jennifer said. “We can watch from home. This situation with the pandemic is still uncertain. He’s in the village, and even though they’re not allowed to do much, he’s still having a great experience. Michael is kind of a homebody anyway, so the fact that they’re not able to go out a lot, he’s fine.”
Jennifer was an Olympian herself. She swam for the U.S. in the 1976 Games in Montreal, finishing sixth in the 200 freestyle and being a prelim swimmer on the gold medal-winning 400 freestyle relay team.
Jamie and Jennifer did attend last month’s Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, along with their older son Kevin and his fiance, Taylor Hawkins. Kevin, a former Columbus North and Denison University swimmer, now lives in Arlington, Virginia and works in Washington, D.C.
Like Jennifer, Jamie was hoping to be able to be in attendance at the games to support Michael.
“I was disappointed, but the fact that he gets to be there, and the Olympics are still happening is the most important thing for us,” Jamie said. “It may not be the experience like Jennifer had, but he’s still getting to swim with the best swimmers in the world.”
Jamie said that because Michael is vaccinated, he was tested for COVID every third day while he was in Hawaii. Non-vaccinated were tested every day. Michael and the rest of the swimmers then had to be tested twice before they left Hawaii, and were tested again upon arrival in Tokyo.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Jennifer said. “We were more nervous just about trials, and now, it’s just about watching it and enjoying it. We’re hoping the whole U.S. team does well.”
Training For Tokyo
Michael spent his final two years of high school training with the Mission Viejo (California) Nadadores and coach Mark Schubert, who coached Jennifer while she was in high school.
After his freshman year at IU, Brinegar went back to California to train with Schubert during the 2019-20 school year. Then following the 2020-21 swim season at IU, Brinegar went back to Schubert again to train for the trials.
“It was quite a thrill for me to be able to work with Michael after working with Jennifer,” Schubert said. “Her having faith in me means a lot. We’ve remained good friends over the years, and she did a terrific job coaching Michael up until he was about 15, and then she turned him over to me. IU did a great job with him, and I just kind of put the cherry on top.”
Jennifer said since Michael has a lot more experience competing in international events than she did prior to her Olympic games, she hasn’t given him a ton of advice.
“They have a really good crew, and it’s going to be so much different without the crowds,” Jennifer said. “There won’t be the fans in the stands. I know they’re trying to make it a very special experience and that they all bond together, and a lot of that is sharing information from those who have been in prior Olympics and international meets.”
Schubert said Michael really thrives on competition in practice and that he has been training hard, both at the training camp in Hawaii and now in Tokyo.
Michael, who finished second at the Olympic Trials in both of his races, is seeded 16th out of 34 swimmers in the 800 freestyle and 20th of 28 swimmers in the 1,500 freestyle. The top eight in each event make the finals.
“I think he has a great chance to final in both the 800 and 1,500,” Schubert said. “That’s what his goal is. I think his 800 race was pretty good at the trials, but I could see him going a lot faster. The 1,500, we were a little disappointed with his race at the trials. I could see him going at least 10 seconds faster. I think that will give him a real good chance to get in the top eight, and if you have a lane in the final, anything can happen.”
No matter how he does this week, Michael figures to be a candidate to make the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“Hopefully, this won’t be his last Olympics,” Schubert said. “I think the experience is invaluable for him. He did so well at the trials because he had been there before (in 2016), and I think this experience in Tokyo is going to be fantastic.”
