Josh Matheny showed Pennsylvania swim fans what he could do in a pool during his years at Upper St. Clair.
Now he will get a chance to showcase his talent for the world.
The Indiana University standout finished second in the 200-meter breaststroke Wednesday night at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium and earned a berth to the Paris Olympics next month.
“It’s a lot to just step up and race here, and I’m just super excited to wear the cap and do the best I can for the United States,” he told IndyStar after his race.
Matheny finished in 2 minutes, 8.86 seconds. Matt Fallon set an American record in 2:06.54 to finish first. Matheny edged Ananias Pouch (2:09.05), who finished third in front of a record-setting crowd of 22,209 in Indianapolis.
The 2021 Upper St. Clair grad had finished third in the 100 breaststroke earlier in the trials this week and wanted to avoid another near miss. The top two finishers in the individual events qualify for the Olympic team.
“I knew I had to be out fast,” Matheny said. “It’s just the way I like to swim that race is to get on top and then just try to hold him off as hard, as much as I can. And I got to give it to Ray (Looze). The way he trains us is it allows me to do that with my arms and my legs. They started to hurt by the end, but the thought of just getting third again just powered me to the wall.”
Matheny finished fifth at the 2021 Olympic Trials in the 100-meter breaststroke.
During his recently completed junior season at Indiana, he was an All-American in two events and finished sixth in the NCAA in the 100-yard breaststroke. He is a seven-time All-American in his collegiate career and a two-time NCAA medalist, as well as a three-time Big Ten champion.
At Upper St. Clair, Matheny 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. That year, he also won a fourth WPIAL title in the 100 breast and led USC to the WPIAL team title.
He will join Team USA at the Paris Olympics, starting with the Opening Ceremony on July 26.
“I’ll definitely have to clean up a little bit,” he said. “I think part of this meet’s just really difficult with all the pressure, especially tonight with the record-setting crowd.”