USC’s Matheny shines at USA nationals
Taking a trip overseas typically requires plenty of research and planning ahead of time, but for Josh Matheny, a spur- of- themoment trip to Budapest later this month will have to do.
The Upper St. Clair junior took home a pair of Under- 18 titles at the Phillips 66 U. S. National Championships over the weekend at Stanford University, punching his ticket to the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Aug. 20- 25 in Budapest. Matheny posted the fastest U18 time in both the 100- and 200- meter breaststrokes while competing against the best swimmers in the country of all ages, and he finished third overall in the 200.
“It’s crazy exciting, especially in the 200 breaststroke. I was in the A final, so I got to swim with the top eight people [ of all ages],” Matheny said. “Placing third, it’s really exciting being next to some of the fastest people in the country and knowing you can race them. Stepping onto the block, it’s really exciting is the best way I can describe it.”
Matheny’s time of 2: 11.02 in the 200 breaststroke set a new national record for the 15- 16 age group. Matheny now holds two national records going into his junior year of high school, having already broken the National Federation of State High School Associations record in the 100- yard breaststroke with a time of 52.52 at last year’s PIAA championships.
He finished 12th overall in the 100 breaststroke over the weekend with a time of 1: 00.91, still good enough to earn a second U18 national title as well as a spot on the U. S. junior world team in two events. This will be Matheny’s first time competing at junior worlds.
“I’m super stoked to represent the United States overseas,” Matheny said.
Matheny was the only local athlete to qualify for junior worlds, but several of the other top swimmers in the WPIAL were also in action at U. S. nationals over the weekend, including North Allegheny’s Jack Wright and Penn Hills’ Kimani Gregory,
who both graduated in the spring.
Wright and Gregory spent much of their high school careers going head- to- head in the 100- yard freestyle, an event in which Gregory ended his career as a twotime WPIAL champion. They competed in the same heat in the 100 freestyle again over the weekend, and Gregory edged out Wright again with a time of 50.82, while Wright posted a 51.23.
“For the 100 free, I got him, but he swam the 200 free and the 400 free. So as far as 200 free or 400 free, he outranks me by a lot,” Gregory said. “He’s an awesome freestyle swimmer.”
Both swimmers just missed out on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials in the 100 freestyle, as the cutoff time for the event was 50.49. But although he still competes in the event, the 100 freestyle is no longer one of Wright’s specialties.
Wright is a two- time PIAA champion in the 200 freestyle, and he posted a personal- best time in the event of 1: 50.78, just barely squeezing under the cut for the Olympic Trials by onehundredth of a second. He also dropped his personalbest time in the 400 freestyle to 3: 56.97, which also made the cutoff for Olympic Trials.
“Earlier in my high school career I was more of a sprinter, actually, and then these past couple of years I transitioned to more of a 200 and 400 swimmer,” Wright said. “I think another big thing was just our practices at NA tend to be more geared toward longer events, so I guess going into those practices has helped me get better at distance.”
One of Wright’s primary practice partners, senior Rick Mihm, was the only other boys swimmer from the WPIAL competing over the weekend.
Mihm is a two- time PIAA champion in the 500- yard freestyle, but that event isn’t contested at the national or international level. Instead, Mihm took part in the 200 freestyle, 200 butterfly and the 200 and 400- meter individual medley, earning a qualifying spot to next year’s Olympic Trials in both the 200 and 400 IM along the way.
After posting a time of 2: 01.66, Mihm missed out on qualifying for the 200 butterfly by less than half a second. But the pendulum swung the other way in the 400 IM, when Mihm’s time of 4: 25.53 was less than a half- second under the qualifying time. Meanwhile, his time of 2: 03.02 in the 200 IM was more than a second under the cutoff time for Olympic Trials.
Despite posting a pair of qualifying times for the Olympic Trials, Mihm left the meet with an empty feeling after just barely missing out on a spot on the junior world team alongside Matheny.
Fellow high school senior Sean Faikish of North Penn, who beat Mihm by 0.09 seconds in the 200 IM at the 2018 PIAA championships, finished just ahead of Mihm yet again with a time of 2: 02.37 to earn a spot on the junior world team.
“He out- touched me. He got me again,” Mihm said. “I finished right behind him, so it was pretty disappointing. He’s going to world juniors in Budapest in a couple of weeks, and I was kind of going for that.”
Elsewhere at U. S. nationals, two of the top girls swimmers in the WPIAL also tried their luck at earning qualifying times but just missed out on the Olympic Trials cutoff.
Fox Chapel sophomore Zoe Skirboll took part in the 50- and 100- meter freestyle as well as the 100 breaststroke, posting times of 26.39, 56.58 and 1: 12.56, respectively. Butler senior Laura Goettler, meanwhile, participated in the 100- and 200- meter breaststroke, posting times of 1: 13.09 and 2: 35.46.