Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny earns silver at world junior swimming championships

By: Michael Love
Sunday, August 25, 2019 | 12:01 AM

Josh Matheny capped competition at the FINA World Junior (18 and under) Swimming Championship on Sunday with a silver medal as a part of the Team USA 400-meter medley relay.

The American quartet finished with a time of 3:33.66, .47 seconds behind Russia (3:33.19) at the Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

About an hour earlier, Matheny, 16, just missed a medal in the men’s 50 breaststroke.

The Upper St. Clair junior placed fourth with a time of 27.96 seconds, 13 one-hundredths of a second away from bronze.

Russia’s Vladislaw Gerasimenko, who edged out Matheny for gold in the 100 breast on Wednesday, captured the 50 breast title with a time of 27.58.

Canada’s Gabe Mastromatteo took silver (27.73), and Great Britain’s Archie Goodburn took bronze (27.83).

Despite not medaling in the 50 breast, Matheny was able to tick up one spot from his fifth place in the semifinals and his semifinal time of 28.16. He came into the preliminaries seeded 11th.

In all, Matheny will be taking home two gold (200 breast, 400 mixed medley relay) and two silver (100 breast, men’s 400 medley relay).

“It’s been an absolutely honor, and it’s been incredible to represent the United States oversees,” Matheny said Sunday in a USA Swimming release. “Every time you step up on the blocks with that black cap, it’s an electric feeling, and with everyone cheering for you in the stands, I could not be happier with representing the USA.”

Matheny’s gold in the 200 breast Friday came in a time of 2:09.40, just one-one hundredth of a second from the world junior record. It was the 12th fastest American swim of all-time

Matheny was one of 45 competitors who represented Team USA at the international meet.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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