Matheny qualifies for Olympic finals
More than 125 fans of Josh Matheny gathered Tuesday afternoon in the auditorium of his alma mater to watch the 2021 Upper St. Clair graduate reach the finals in the 200-meter breaststroke event during the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Matheny clocked a 2:09.70 and advanced to the finals, which will be broadcast at 4 p.m. (EST) today. He entered the race seeded 10th and finished fourth in his heat and sixth overall after the second semifinal heat.
“Wow,” his high school and club coach David Schraven. “The hope was that Josh would make the final. The fact that he made it is a huge accomplishment.”
Schraven added “that anything can happen,” and predicted, “I think he has a real shot of getting a medal. Typically the bigger the race, the better he does. Obviously this will be the biggest race of his life. He is really excited to have the opportunity to compete for a medal.”
Matheny’s former high school teammate, Lauren Mittleider of Upper St. Clair, nervously watched the race.
“My heart was like 150,” she said, “but I had so much faith in Josh. It was amazing. He did really well.”
Matheny has performed well throughout his career.
During his scholastic career, Matheny broke multiple age-group, district and state records, not to mention national marks.
In 2021, he won three gold medals at the PIAA meet his senior season, including capturing the 100-yard breaststroke title for the fourth year in a row with a NFHS and state record time of 51.84 seconds. He also won a fourth WPIAL title in the 100 breast and led USC to the team championship. That year, he also was named The Almanac/Observer-Reporter male Athlete of the Year.
At Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., he has been a seven-time All-American, two-time NCAA medalist and three-time Big Ten team and individual champion. He’s also made the academic All-Big Ten squad.
Prior to the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Summer Olympics, he competed on the world stage. He medaled at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2023.
“He has been swimming in big meets his entire life,” said his longtime friend, Topher Bishop. “We text each other all the time, and he was very excited about his experience in Paris. He is soaking up all that Paris has to offer him.”
Matheny offers hope for the youth of Upper St. Clair, even if they are not swimmers.
John Knittel is one such person. A rising freshman at USC, he excels at ice hockey. He is a left winger for the Mt. Lebanon Hornets.
“I just came to the watch party because I thought it was awesome that somebody from Upper St. Clair is in the Olympics. It’s inspiring. I definitely hope to compete in the Olympics some day,” Knittel said.
Angel Schrantz hoped that her two young sons, Peter and Barrett, were inspired as well. The Schrantz family attended the watch party with Ellen Jurik and her 4-year-old daughter, Margaret.
“It was nice for them to see someone in action from Upper St. Clair,” Schrantz said. “Maybe we will have an Olympian swimmer one day, too.”