Aug 21, 2024 By Eleanor Bailey 6 min read

Josh Matheny

Josh Matheny celebrates after advancing to the semifinals of the 200-meter breaststroke race during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Josh Matheny is out in front during the first half of the 200-meter breaststroke as he is cheered on by his Upper St. Clair neighbors during a watch party. The USC graduate qualified for the finals in the event.

During the 2024 Summer Olympics, Josh Matheny was able to see his parents briefly. He met with them once for 30 to 40 minutes at a Parisian cafe.

“It was hard to see people outside the Olympic Village,” the 21-year-old son of Dr. Jeffrey and Kristin Matheny said.

So, since spending much of the summer away from home in Upper St. Clair, training for and competing in the Olympics, Matheny embraced his short stay in Upper St. Clair with close friends and immediate family before heading back to Bloomington to complete his studies at Indiana University.

Noting his schedule – trials starting on June 15, four-week training camp, first in North Carolina and then in Croatia, Olympic Games from July 26 to Aug. 11 – Matheny’s high school and club coach Dave Schraven said, “Josh has been gone for a long time. So he really wanted to come home, lay low and decompress. He doesn’t seek the limelight.”

Matheny slipped home a day before the closing ceremony. Instead of marching with the 10,000 athletes in front of 71,000 spectators at Stade de France for the final farewell to the Games, Matheny watched the festivities from the comfort and quiet solitude of his living room on Aug. 11.

As USC’s most decorated swimmer, Matheny even dressed for the occasion.

“They gave us all these outfits to wear for those ceremonies,” he said. “So I watched them wearing the gear.”

The predominantly white fashions for the closing ceremony featured a denim jacket and jeans, polo and hat as well as the same belt and beige suede shoes that were part of the opening ceremony uniform, which consisted of a classic-style navy blue jacket, light-blue striped dress shirt and blue-washed jeans.

Matheny did not participate in the opening ceremony either because the U.S. Swim Team members had qualifying heats and races during the initial days of the competition.

“U.S. Swimming has a rule that does not allow us to do that,” Matheny said of marching in the opening ceremony. “I think it’s a valid rule because there is a lot of standing and waiting around.”

Matheny did not have long to linger as his first competition was a preliminary heat for the 200-meter breaststroke race on July 30 at the Paris La Défense Arena. His Heat 3 time of 2:10.39 thrust him into the semifinals. He qualified for the finals with a 2:09.70 by finishing sixth overall among the top 16 swimmers. On July 31, he clocked a 2:09.52 and finished seventh in the championships.

“As an American you always would like to place higher but my goal was to make the final,” he said. “So I was definitely the most nervous about the semifinals.

“Because the goal all along was to make the finals, there was more pressure. The final was a reward and I enjoyed being there and racing. It’s an incredible experience racing against the best in the world.”

Grabbing the gold medal was France’s Leon Marchand with an Olympic record time of 2:05.85. Marchand, who had the honor of extinguishing the Olympic flame at the Tuileries Palace, captured four gold medals and a relay bronze during the Games. Marchand was the first Frenchman to win four gold medals at the same Olympic Games.

Collegiately, Marchand led Arizona State University to the 2024 NCAA title, winning his third 200-yard breast championship in the process.

“I’ve been racing him for a long time,” Matheny said of Marchand. “It was incredible and when he won the place was all going bonkers.

“The whole spectacle of being in the Olympics is unlike anything I’ve ever been around. It was all new. Like nothing I have experienced before,” he added.

According to Matheny, the dining hall was the hub of activity outside of an athlete’s particular venue. The massive building featured seven to eight different eating stations with assorted options for all the participating nations. Because he suffers with Celiac disease, Matheny said he consumed foods with which he was familiar. He noted the chocolate pudding cups were delicious.

“There were always options I could choose and I can say that I never walked away from the table not being full,” he added.

The athlete’s appetite for celebrity watching was also satiated in the dining hall.

While he did not meet Stephen Nedoroscik, aka “Pommel Horse Guy,” Matheny enjoyed watching the parade of performers with his six suitemates, which included Matt King, Chris Giuliano, David Johnston, Jack Alexy and Brooks Curry. Everybody got a kick out of seeing Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec, who took the internet by storm because of his nonchalant shooting style, and American gymnast Simone Biles.

“The dining hall experience was the most fun. Sitting there with my swim mates seeing all the teams and countries was really cool,” Matheny said. “It was a giant mixing of everybody all coming together in the name of sport.”

Matheny added that he could not discern the “most fascinating story” of the Games.

“There certainly were a lot of stories. Great ones,” he continued. “A lot goes on in the village and you have to stay focused. I would say though that this Olympics especially helped bring back the true spirit of the Games.”

Matheny hopes to experience that enthusiasm again when he attempts to make the team for the 2028 Summer Games. He believes the knowledge he gained in Paris will prepare him for even greater success in Los Angeles.

“For most of the (swimming) medal winners, it’s not their first time at the Olympics,” he noted.

While Matheny had been to Paris and saw the sights with his grandparents, Richard and Thea Stover, when he was 13 and on a two-day layover, the 2024 Olympics were his first Games.

“There were a lot of different things I didn’t know,” he said. “There are things you can’t control, like the long bus rides through busy Paris to get to your venue. You have to be ready for everything. It’s a learning process and this experience will be invaluable as I train for 2028.

“I’m super grateful to have made the finals but hopefully I can get a higher place next time. Finishing higher for the USA is the goal. I have never been more excited about a meet because it will be in America.

“I watched how the French got behind all their athletes in every sport. France was talented and there was nothing like it seeing how the home country supported them. Hopefully in 2028 the USA can do better than they did.”