As some people are just meant to play basketball or hockey, some people are simply born to be in the water. This accurately describes first-year swimmer Noah Beene, who recalls swimming lessons with his mother at just three months old. As Beene grew in age, he showed incredible growth in his swimming skills.

Swimming the freestyle, Beene’s distances include the 500-yard, 1,000-yard and the mile. He has recorded his top times in those events at 4:36.81, 9:44.52 and 16:16.79, respectively, and these times are only going to get better.

During his first year, Beene has had to become acclimated to college, in both academics and athletics. As far as academics, Beene has noticed a much bigger shift in responsibility. There is not anybody around to remind him to get his work done like his parents could do for him in high school. Also, the classes themselves are much more difficult, as expected. The work he put in when he was high school could get him easy As, but now he has to work much harder for the grades he wants.

Similarly, in swimming, he initially found the sport much more difficult in college. The switch from one to two practices a day was one of the biggest adjustments for him, but his love of swimming makes the practices all worth it.

“It’s not too bad. Once you get past the fact that you only get five hours of sleep a night, you are all set,” he said with a grin.

The leap to collegiate swimming also has come with benefits, like stronger bonds with teammates. Beene explained that since the team is together nearly four hours a day, he feels a brothership with his teammates. As a first-year, having his team’s support has been a huge help; they are able to answer any and all of his questions.

Although Beene has not had the opportunity to get too heavily involved in activities outside of swimming, he is looking into a variety of different clubs in hopes of finding the time to get involved. At some point, Beene would like to join a fraternity, potentially both social and professional. If he does join a professional fraternity, he is looking into the pre-medical Phi Delta Epsilon fraternity.

Academically, Beene is planning on becoming a biomedical engineering major on the pre-medical track. This may seem impossible, considering this is infamously the hardest combination of major and track offered—along with the fact that he swims—but he does not fear it.

“Life is a hill, and once you get over the crest of the hill, it gets easier from there,” he said. “So with the BME pre-med, you take it one day at a time and just remind yourself of what the end goal is, and if you don’t forget what your end goal is, no matter how hard the classes get, you shouldn’t need to quit.”

He also isn’t worried about his class load, because the human body is a major source of fascination for him. He is particularly interested in the development and maintenance of living bodies, with the end goal of becoming a cardiologist. Beene is a man who truly wants to make a significant difference in our world.