Boys athlete of the week
The Post-Gazette’s top male performer of the past seven days
Recently: Won both the 200-yard individual medley in 1:52.42 and 100 breaststroke in 56.26 seconds in a meet against Bethel Park to set the top times in the WPIAL this season in both events.
Check this out: Xu, a senior, will swim next season at the Ivy League’s Cornell. He actually has the top Class 3A time in five of the eight individual events with a month remaining before the WPIAL finals at Pitt’s Trees Pool. He is leaning toward swimming in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke, the two events he won last year.
What made you choose Cornell? In terms of the recruiting, their coaches were the most responsive. They definitely seemed the most interested in me and, when I took my official visit, it just felt like the right place for me.
What has the transition been like going from junior to senior year? It’s definitely been a change with the shifting team dynamic. In terms of the times themselves, I think a lot of really good swimmers graduated, which contributed, but I also think I’ve been getting a lot better over the summer.
What would it be like to win an individual state title to close it out? It would feel like a really good capstone to my senior year. It would be the feeling wrapping up something that I’ve been doing for my 10th year now.
As a 100 breaststroke swimmer, it’s gotta be nice not having Upper St. Clair alum Josh Matheny around anymore? Oh yeah. Although, while he was around, it was a phenomenal opportunity just to be able watch him race. As he went on to bigger and better things, like winning nationals over the summer. It’s nice just being able to know I raced him and he grew up in my area.
How did racing him make you better? It kind of puts things in perspective. You can think you’re the top dog in an event, but racing someone like Josh Matheny, whose done things like win junior worlds and seeing headlines about him and then racing him later on, it kind of puts things in perspective where you stand in the sport in relation to some of the greatest people out there.
How do you get away from swimming? Well, I have a lot of schoolwork, so that takes up more of the free time I have outside of it. I also play the trumpet and I’m also interested in a lot of computer science-related things. I’ve done some cybersecurity competitions and get a lot of enjoyment from that.
Should I make sure you’re not hacking my phone right now? You’re good!
Are you streaming anything right now? I don’t watch TV, basically, at all. Sometimes I’ll go down YouTube rabbit holes and watch more science-based channels like William Osman and The Backyard Scientist a bit more.