Upper St. Clair swimmer sets new records
Josh Matheny paced the Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics club to a ninth-place finish during the USA Swimming “Futures” Championships held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Matheny won the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke races. His time of 1:03.80 in the 100 shattered the Allegheny Mountain Swimming record by over three seconds. The mark ranks No. 1 in the country for 14 year olds and is also the fifth fastest time ever performed by someone Matheny’s age.
The Upper St. Clair freshman also clocked a 2:17.73 in the 200. That time broke the Allegheny Mountain Swimming record by 10 seconds. That mark is also ranked No. 1 in the country and is the third fastest time ever swum by a 14 year old. Matheny also eclipsed the qualifying standard for the 2016 U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials by more than a half second.
“Josh is an extremely talented swimmer who had a fantastic meet,” said PEAQ Head Coach Dave Schraven.
Matheny’s results were a result of working with assistant coach Chris Ogden. Scraven pointed out how they perfected his breaststroke technique.
“Josh has the kind of stroke that you could videotape and use to instruct people in how to swim breaststroke properly. The sky is the limit for Josh as he will continue to grow and improve well into the future.
“I expect that he will not only attend the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2020 but he will go to that meet and further make a name for himself,” Schraven said.
As Schraven also coaches the USC high school team, he said that “It’s safe to say that we are looking forward to having him as a member of our team this year.”
More than 100 teams from the Eastern Zone of the United States attended the meet. Performers from PEAQ also included: Upper St. Clair students Abby Matheny, Olivia Shaffer, Lauren Connors, Jack Fitzpatrick, Nick Mudry and Brandon Novak. They were also joined by teammates Maddy Andrews (Quaker Valley), Karen Siddoway (Northgate) and Harry Harkins (Quaker Valley).