A WORLD record-breaking powerlifter who credits the sport with turning his life around is hoping he can inspire others in similar situations.
Keenan Freer was 16 when he was kicked out of his home and off his college course, had experiences with drugs and, at his lowest, contemplated suicide.
With nowhere else to turn he went to Titan Fitness in Wath, and 18 months later was lifting the trophy with a record-breaking performance at the World Powerlifting Congress (WPC) World Championships in Florida.
“You can have a bad start in life but you can turn it around,” Keenan said. “That’s my message.
“People were saying I was a kid that wasn’t going anywhere in life, not doing anything, and I’m proving them wrong. Over the past 18 months I’ve gone from nothing to competing in world championships. I want to help people get out of that same situation I was in. It’s hard to get out of it when nobody wants to believe in you or help you out, but you sometimes have to believe in yourself first.”
Keenan lifted a total of 615kg across three events at the tournament earlier this month, beating the previous world record of 550kg in his category.
Keenan, now 19, says he had a difficult childhood which led to bad behaviour and lashing out.
“I got kicked out of college, kicked out of my home, and ended up in a bad place. I had a lot of anger issues, but I was asking for help and I was misunderstood.
“People gave me a reputation but I was saying that wasn’t me, I don’t want that label.
“I went through every single anger management course and none of them worked. But I was still training, and the gym took me out of that bad place. I went from the college gym to Titan and that’s where I got noticed.
“I’ve been training since I was 15 and started competing locally at 17. I did three local competitions in 12 months.”
After leaving home Keenan lived in Eastwood, Rotherham for six months where he was around drug users and did drugs himself, although he says he was never an addict.
He eventually moved to the flat where he currently lives on Masefield Road, West Melton, but said the first weeks of living there were perhaps the hardest.
After a period in which he felt intense loneliness and contemplated suicide, Keenan was ‘saved’ by an apprenticeship at Titan gym, which gave him the opportunity to get out of the flat and put his mind to something. He now trains six days a week and as well as his record-breaking win, won last year’s British Championships.
“I have turned it all around,” he said. “I have been fortunate to be quite quick in gaining some success, but it has taken five years of work and this gym has helped me through everything. The temper still comes out every so often, but everyone gets angry.
“I channel it through the squats and lifts and that’s the way I control it. Since I’ve sorted myself out I’ve not felt angry or kicked out at anyone.”
Keenan is also back at college studying a sports science coaching degree, and ‘absolutely loving it’. Alongside his degree Keenan coaches six personal training clients in a mix of general fitness and powerlifting, and he hopes to continue coaching.
“I’ve got younger lads and I try to keep them on the right path,” he said. “When you are in that dark place with nobody there it is lonely and it can make all the difference to know there’s somebody to talk to.”
After his win, Keenan says he will take a break and ‘get a bit of his life back’, spending time with his partner, Jordan, who he recently became engaged to.
