Freedom High School senior, Sam Magnan, clinched the gold medal in the 500 freestyle at the PIAA State Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend at Bucknell University.

It was Magnan's third attempt at gold, having won the silver medal for the past two years.

"I was very relieved because after coming in second for two years, I finally did it," Magnan said.

In fact, Magnan did it sick.

Between preliminaries and finals, all the Patriot senior could do was sleep and medicate.

"I felt better then. At that point, I had to tell myself I could win. My best time [in the 500 free] was better than all the others, but I didn't let that get to my head," he said.

Magnan reached his best time of 4:25 during the regular season, but recorded a 4:23.92 at states. Second place was 4:26.53.

"I just knew if I got out fast and had an early lead, no one would catch me at the end," said Magnan.

Magnan credited hard work for his gold medal victory.

"Getting second before just fueled my fire for the year," he said.

Magnan also medaled in the 200 free, placing fifth with a time of 1:40.21.

"I had a pretty good prelim swim. I could have gone faster at night, but I was still happy with my finish," Magnan said.