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Upper St. Clair swimmer wins national title

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 6 min read
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Josh Matheny swam a personal-best time of 59.44 and won the 100-meter breaststroke race during the Phillips 66 National Championships held July 26-30 in Irvine, Calif.

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Josh Matheny

An explosion of energy propelled Josh Matheny to victory in the 100-meter breaststroke during the Phillips 66 National Championships held July 26-30 in the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine, Calif.

“The back half of my long-course races is where I turn on the jets and leave people in the dust,” said Matheny.

The Upper St. Clair native was in a fierce fight before he made his move with around 25 meters remaining. He pulled away from the field and touched the wall in personal-best time of 59.44.

Dutch Olympian Caspar Corbeau finished second in 59.51 while Kevin Housman was third in 1:00.24, .06 ahead of Jason Louser. NCAA champion Max McHugh from Minnesota was fifth in 1:00.82.

Matheny knew heading into the race that others had the edge on him at the start but a strong ending would neutralize the competition.

“I didn’t have the underwaters that people on either side of me have so I knew going in that I had to have a really good start and really good pull outs, especially off the turns to even have a chance.

“I know it didn’t look like it but those were really good pull outs for me. That is something that I have been working on basically all summer. It definitely came in handy. I wasn’t as far behind as I normally am. At that point, it was around the 25 and 75 that I turned on the jets in each 50.”

The surge was the secret and happened exactly as Matheny had planned.

“I am extremely thankful for that,” he said.

Matheny was grateful for his qualifying swim during the morning session. He broke one minute for the first time in his career. During the prelims, he posted a 59.68.

“I have been stuck at a minute for a really long time. It was like a never-ending thing. I felt like a pro going a minute,” he said.

A text from his club coach at Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics encouraged Matheny to “change it up a little bit” and he heeded the advice.

“To look up and finally see No. 1 in front of (my time), just the 59 gave me an explosion of confidence coming into the finals that I could race.”

At an early age, Matheny demonstrated an ability to race and beat the best.

On the amateur circuit, he was a junior national and world junior champion shattering age group records in his signature swims. He also qualified and competed in his first Olympic Trials fresh out of high school. He finished fifth in the 100-meter breast

At USC, Matheny was a four-time state champion in the 100-yard breast.

During his senior season in 2021, he won the event in 51.84 and shattered his PIAA and NFHS records in the process. He also won the 200-yard IM in 1:47.54 and swam the breast stroke leg on the Panthers’ gold-medal medley relay team. For his three-gold medal performance, Matheny earned Swimmer of the Meet honors.

Matheny also guided the Panthers to their first WPIAL team championship in 10 years. At his home pool, he shattered his own WPIAL record, winning the breast in 54.50. He also helped the medley relay smash a pool record and win the race in 1:33.33. Individually, he was runner-up in the IM.

His scholastic achievements and progression in the breaststroke came during a stressful stretch, that included fits and starts because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There have been a lot of obstacles,” Matheny said. “COVID killed a lot of momemntum. It was hard to retrain and get back. It just felt like I kept falling a little short every time.

“To finally get up and get a big win, it really feels special,” he added of his national title.

Significant is swimming at Indiana University in the Big Ten Conference. Matheny matriculated to the college after his outstanding scholastic career, where he was named Almanac/Observer-Reporter male athlete of the year in 2021. IU has produced Olympians such as Mark Spitz, Lilly King and Cody Miller, who are both breaststrokers.

“There are a lot of things and something about Bloomington that’s special,” Matheny said. “The breast stroke group is super close and interesting. I would not be where I am today without all of them.”

As a freshman this past winter, Matheny earned All-America honors in two events. He was an NCAA silver medalist in the 400 medley relay, swimming a 50.93 in the breaststroke leg.

He was a Big Ten medalist in four of the five events in which he swam during the conference championships. He was a Big Ten champion in the 400 medley. As a silver medalist in the 200 breast, he was the top freshman and posted the ninth-best time (1:50.65) in the country. He also was the lone freshman in the A final of the 100 breast and finished as the bronze medalist in the Big Ten.

“I’m looking forward to keep representing IU,” said Matheny. “It’s been so great being part of such a great team. We are all super close and supportive at all times, which is super helpful.”

Matheny is the son of Jeff and Kristin Matheny. He has two sisters, Meghan and Abby, who is currently swimming at Williams College.

Josh Matheny of Upper St. Clair was selected to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) 2021-22 Scholar All-America team.

He was one of 27 Indiana University swimming and diving team members to gain the distinction.

Selection was based on spring 2022 grade point averages. That’s during a semester when the swim program achieved great success at both the conference and national levels in the pool. The women’s team earned a 3.53 GPA while the men had a 3.26 mark.

 

IU’s 17 scholar All-America selections from the women’s team are the most in the Big Ten, while its 27 total honorees rank No. 2 in the conference.

 

Of the 27 selections, 14 earned first-team honors.

To qualify for first-team scholar All-America, student-athletes earned a minimum GPA of 3.5 and participated in their national championship. Second-team selections also earned a 3.50 GPA or higher and achieved a “B” time standard for the national championship or participated at a diving zone qualification meet.

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