In mid-April, the NCAA Gymnastic Championships took place at the University of Michigan. While Springfield College didn’t qualify for the event as a team, Felix Kriedemann, a senior from Germany with a lifelong love for gymnastics, did. His last salute to the sport would go out in a way he never imagined — in front of a large crowd, on a national stage, with American electronic dance music blasting throughout his routine.
Ever since he was a young boy in Munich, Germany, his confidence and tranquility soared high in every aspect of life, especially in the gym. Staying calm and performing in front of people is something that Kriedemann excelled at — until It was time to head off on his adventure to Springfield College in 2021.
Kriedemann was dropped off at the Munich airport, and to him, flying wasn’t a big deal. He loves flying and used to travel all around Europe, but when Kriedemann stepped out of the car, he froze into an abyss. Greeting him were a dozen of Kriedemann’s close friends, and that’s when his nerves peaked.
“It started building up two days before and hit me like, ‘Holy shit. In two days, I will leave this country and this continent. I’ll leave my family. I will leave everything I ever knew, anyone I ever knew, to meet people I’ve never met before and places I’ve never seen. It was an unreal moment.”
Although it was tough at the moment, Kriedemann snapped out of his concerns as soon as the tight hug from his parents concluded. Kriedemann was a German champion in pommel horse while competing in age bracket of 16, and won championships with his Club team in the Bundesliga back home, but that would soon be reset once he touched down in America. Every negative thought was thrown out, as Kriedemann felt he couldn’t turn back — and didn’t want to. He was also opposed to making judgments and assumptions.
Kriedemann had his “Welcome to America” moment when he was greeted at Logan Airport by his Springfield assistant coach Matt DeGrandpre, who gave him a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich and a super sugary lemonade. He had never had a PB&J before then, and the obnoxiously sweet lemonade was a culture shock to him, even though English isn’t his primary language and having not been around an American school system.
Gymnastics, to Kriedemann, is all he’s known in life. He started doing gymnastics at the age of five, mainly because his mom, Katrin, was a gymnastics coach in Germany for an extensive amount of time. At the start of his career, he struggled mightily. Kriedemann was always the worst gymnast in the gym, but it made him want to be better. The only other sport that Kriedemann took a shot at was Soccer, but he stopped after three years, and by eight, He was doing routines like he was paid to do it, seven days a week. From being terrified of heights on the still rings dangling on the roof, to having no control of his body on pommel horse, Kriedmann was a champion in 2018.
“I wanted to practice more. I wanted to be more, and I Never got tired of it,” Kriedemann said. “My other teammate’s parents had to force them to go to the gym, forcing them to go practice. I always wanted to go. I love gymnastics. I was very addicted to the sport and that grind that it required, and I still am to this day.”
Men’s College Gymnastics is one of the most unique gymnastics events in the NCAA. Due to funding issues, there are only 15 schools that have a team, with Springfield being at a disadvantage due to DIII institutions not being able to give out athletic scholarships. All 15 schools recruited Kriedemann, but Oklahoma University and Springfield were his top two due to what he was offered financially. Although none of Springfield’s offer was athletic driven, academics is something that Kriedemann excels in.
In Germany, sports and school are separated. Kriedemann thought he’d be more successful in science but still wanted to compete for four more years at a high level. Kriedemann was in high school in Austria for his final years before college, and due to COVID-19, they shut the borders, and Kriedemann couldn’t take his final exams, which meant he couldn’t graduate yet. Kriedemann focused on gymnastics in his final year of high school, and by the time he touched foot in the States, he hadn’t graduated with a high school diploma. After only being in America for three weeks, he had to fly back twice to take his high school exams while balancing the student-athlete lifestyle at Springfield.
Matthew Davis, who recruited Kriedemann to come to Springfield and is now in his eighth year as the men’s gymnastics head coach, made it almost impossible for Kriedemann to stray from Alden Street.
“What’s so cool about coach is that he was always checking in on me before I committed here, always sending emails when he could,” Kriedemann said. “I started feeling bad when I was deciding on my school because I felt that I’d let Davis down if I picked Oklahoma.”
Because of the small number of men’s gymnastics teams around the country, the team here is the most geographically diverse on campus. For Kriedemann, that made it a smooth transition from Germany to America. Everyone on his team was traveling from at least hundreds if not thousands of miles away, and all had to deal with trying to distance being homesick. Kriedemann has returned to Germany in the summers, but besides that, he stays at his friend’s house — mainly Jaden Laubstein, who is originally from California.
Laubstein didn’t see himself being super close with Kriedemann because he felt he didn’t have much in common with him, but as the first semester of 2021 went on, they spent more time together with routines in the gym and experiencing college outside of the gym. Kriedemann has gone to multiple Thanksgiving dinners at Laubstein’s house, and Laubstein is thankful to have met Kriedemann.
“Felix is a very confident competitor,” Laubstein said. “When he’s out there, he knows what to do. He knows what to get done. He’s usually the guy at the competition telling me to relax. So That’s one big thing that I appreciate him for.”
Kriedemann is mesmerizing in a way that rubs off on other people. There is no fear when he competes. Watching him do his high bar routine is calming, and everything is frozen in time so he can succeed. Kriedemann enjoys competing, which contagiously spreads to his teammates.
“This year especially, because it’s my last, I’m just having fun with it,” Kreidemann said. “I’ve always loved the hype and the adrenaline, but now more than ever, I’m just trying to get better and end my career on a good note.”
The peak gymnastic years for Kriedemann have far passed. Due to the grind at such a young age, his body has taken many injuries, including severe pain in both of his knees. Kriedemann was at his best when he was 16-18 years old, and his legs started to suffer before. That’s why he was adamant about attending college in the States and eventually becoming successful outside the gym.
The gymnast qualified for the NCAA championships In the high bar event and as an alternate in the pommel horse. Kriedemann took one last salute for the place he calls his second home and the team he calls family.
After hitting his routine, Kriedemann instantly went ballistic. He pumped his fists a half dozen times, let out an ecstatic yell, hugged one of his assistant coaches and even got a handshake from Davis — who only gives fist bumps.
“There’s importance to that, because Coach never does that. It was so cool,” Kriedemann said. “The whole weekend was a perfect way to end my career. The adrenaline that I had during my routine was insane, and to do as well as I did was so nice.”
Kriedemann went his entire collegiate career without falling a single time, including his landings.
Kriedemann was recently accepted into Cambridge University graduate school — one of the best schools in the world, and he plans on going there in the fall. It’s in England, so it will be another life reset for Kriedemann, but he plans to return and work in America for his young adult years, potentially working on cancer research and pharmaceutical drug projects.
“I’ve always been fascinated by how cancer works,” Kriedemann said. “From day one I thought it was an interesting concept, so I decided this is the research I wanted to pursue.”
The German native is set to cross the stage at the MassMutual Center on May 18.