How parental love helped Wichita’s Drayden Bell become high school swimming legend
On top of the podium is the only place where Drayden Bell allows himself to experience the fleeting feeling of satisfaction.
The Wichita East senior etched his name in Kansas high school swimming history over the weekend, sweeping the Class 6A sprints by winning the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles for the third straight season. In the 50 free, it was the fourth straight year Bell claimed the championship, becoming just the second swimmer in state history to win an event all four years at the highest classification.
Bell’s high school career finished as illustrious as one might think: a seven-time state champion, a six-time All-American, an academic All-American with a 4.0 grade-point average and full-ride scholarship to swim for the University of Alabama. He owns school records at the most prestigious Wichita program in three of the four strokes, ranging from the shortest sprint (50 free) to middle distance (200 free). He hasn’t lost a high school race since he was a freshman.
Everyone is able to witness his greatness the precious few seconds he’s in the water. Few are present in his inner circle to see the day-to-day grind that would be enough to wear down any 18-year-old.
This is the story of how Bell, with the help of his family, rose above to become a Kansas high school swimming great.
“I do it for myself, but I also do it for my family,” Bell said. “I’m trying to keep the promises that I made. I’ve seen a lot of people who have a tremendous gift, but they don’t take advantage of it. If you have all of this talent, why don’t you go out there and show the world what it is and emphasize it?”
The typical day of an All-American swimmer
Heidi and Derek Bell never planned on raising a swimming prodigy, but in a way, the couple was perfectly prepared to do just that.
Heidi has a master’s degree in exercise science from Wichita State, while Derek was a standout football, basketball and track and field athlete when he was younger. Each parent have leaned on their expertise to help their son achieve more than what they could have ever imagined.
“Everybody recognized he had this natural ability pretty early on and he was willing to put in the time, so we knew we needed to do our best to help him,” Heidi said.
Drayden is naturally long and lean, which is ideal for a sprinter, but he needs to eat around 8,000 calories a day — the normal intake for a man is 2,500 a day — just to keep his weight on. That’s where Heidi comes in with her knowledge of nutrition.
“That background makes it easier for me when it comes to nutrition, but at this level, it’s not just being a typical mom that likes to cook and throw something together for supper,” Heidi said. “There’s a lot of thought that goes into every meal. You have to make sure he’s getting the right nutrients and the right balance of those nutrients.”
Drayden can eat up to six meals per day, which means constant trips to the grocery store for mom. She calls herself a “perimeter” shopper, where stores sell their meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoids the middle aisles where the processed food is located.
His favorite way to start the day, after a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call, is to grab a slice of peanut butter toast and head to the YMCA with his father for a 90-minute workout. When he returns home, Heidi has a full breakfast waiting him, usually scrambled eggs, Belgium waffles or french toast with deli turkey, hash browns or tater tots and fresh fruit.
“It’s not like she’s just making cereal for him,” Derek said, laughing. “These are nice meals.”
When Drayden heads off to school at Northeast Magnet, Heidi also has two lunches packed for him to eat throughout the day. He drives home after school for another quick meal, which typically is a chicken breast with broccoli and rice, then heads off to swimming practice at East High. Another dinner is waiting for him when he gets done with high school practice, which can be anything from grilled chicken to fish with sides like zucchini, carrots, potatoes, white rice, spinach and salad.
After the second dinner, Drayden is off to the gym for a second time with his father, either for a second workout in the water or a dry-land workout with weights. On occasion, the two enjoy going to Restore Hyper Wellness, where Drayden recovers with cryotherapy, compression therapy and sometimes cupping therapy.
“The one thing I’ve learned about this sport and they don’t get as much acknowledgment for this as they should, but I guarantee you swimmers work just as hard, if not harder than any basketball or football player,” Derek said. “That water is unforgiving, man. It’s there waiting for you every day.”
Derek doesn’t have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. with his son — he doesn’t start his work day until 9 a.m. And the father had no real interest in the sport of swimming before his son discovered it was his niche.
But without fail, Derek is there every morning and evening to push Drayden in his workouts. He seemed genuinely confused when asked about the sacrifice he’s made over the last four years.
“Man, that’s my son. It’s nothing to me,” Derek said. “I don’t think anything of it. Once he makes a commitment to something, it’s basically my job to hold him accountable. There’s always going to be days for athletes where they don’t want to get up and he’s no different. He has days where he’s tired or he’s hurt. But he always gets up. He’s pretty self-motivated like that.”
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How Drayden Bell delivered his best under pressure
When you watch Drayden, it appears almost effortless the way he glides through the water and propels himself off the turns faster than his competition. Many people don’t understand the hours and hours of training — the two-a-day workouts with his father — and dedication — skipping out on social events with friends sometimes to train or sleep — required to make sprinting in the water look that easy.
“The most impressive thing about Drayden is the power aspect of the sport,” East coach Joe Hutchinson said. “When he leaves the block, he’s already ahead of everybody. When he comes off the wall, he’s ahead of everybody. The power parts of the event, he just is more impressive in the water than anybody else.”
Drayden is blessed with so much natural ability that cannot be coached, but has become one of the best swimmers in the country by matching that raw ability with his work ethic.
After winning state as a freshman, the pressure mounted with each race. The stakes grew higher as he chased a legacy and yet he never cracked, never broke, never lost.
“The dedication, the commitment, the mental toughness is what stands out to me,” Heidi said about her son. “I don’t care if you’re a 10-year-old, 18-year-old, 30-year-old, the day-in and day-out grind, the mental and physical fatigue, the highs and lows of meets and practices can take a lot out of a person.
“He always put a lot of pressure on himself and he already had a big bullseye on his back. He was always driven by the next person ready to become the next best. He never let himself become comfortable or complacent. He wasn’t willing to sit back and let someone take it from him.”
That’s the worry that haunts Drayden, the thought he uses every morning he doesn’t feel like getting up and going to the gym.
“I always tell myself to think about the consequences,” he said. “The next meet I might get beat by one hundredth of a second and I’m going to wish I had that extra practice.”
Even though he hasn’t lost in over three years now, that doesn’t mean Drayden is immune to the anxiety before big meets. Like last Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka, even though he could have probably won state is five different events.
His past accomplishments mean nothing when he toes the platform for a new race.
“I always get butterflies before a big race,” Drayden said. “I’m usually always in a sprint, so there’s a lot of adrenaline going already and you’re nervous about messing up a turn or having a delayed start. I always have the butterflies before the race, but as soon as I hit the water, it goes away and I just do what I always do.”
It’s not uncommon for parents to go through the emotional rollercoaster with their children during a race. For Heidi and Derek, it’s on another level.
“When he wins, I feel like I won. When he struggles, I struggle,” Derek said. “Watching him race is what brings me the most excitement.”
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The time to realize the next dream has come
Sometime in August this summer, Drayden will pack up his bags and move to Tuscaloosa to compete in the SEC.
It will be a dream realized. It will also be an emotional end to an era, a reluctant-but-necessary good bye from a son to his parents who have supported him, loved him and trained him to take this next step in his career.
“I have so many emotions about it already,” Drayden admits. “I know I’m going to be happy and a little nervous. And I’m definitely going to miss my parents and everything they do, but I know I’m in great hands at Alabama and they have phenomenal facilities and coaches who will take great care of me.”
The routine from the last four years was never meant to last forever. Its end goal was always to prepare Drayden for the next step. That doesn’t mean his father will be any less sad when the day comes to send his son off to college.
“Man, it’s been tough on me ever since I knew he was leaving,” Derek said. “It’s going to be very tough on me, for sure. That’s pretty much all I do is work and hang out with him, besides the time I spend with my wife. It’s pretty much, ‘Drayden, let’s go train or go shoot hoops or do some recovery and sit in the whirlpool.’ I’m going to miss that, man.”
Despite not coming from one of the coasts, where the top swimming prospects usually train at the nicest facilities in the country, Drayden and his parents have still found a way to make him every bit as competitive with those who have advantages over him right now.
Once the playing field is evened in college, those close to Drayden believe his potential is limitless.
“I really do think he’s just now reaching the tip of the iceberg,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve had a lot of very talented kids from out of Wichita. We’ve had some Olympians and I know it’s so difficult to get to that point to be in the top two in the country, but I think he’s got a great shot at it.”
Regardless of what the future holds, the past four years are something the Bell family will cherish forever.
“A lot of the things I’ve been able to do, I don’t think would be possible without my parents,” Drayden said. “Without both of them, I feel like I would definitely not be where I’m at right now. I’m so grateful for what they’ve done and what they continue to do for me.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2022 at 6:15 AM.
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