U.S. Nationals: Josh Matheny Holds Off AJ Pouch For 200 Breast Win
The 10 months since he raced in the 200 breaststroke Olympic final were relatively quiet for Josh Matheny. The Indiana senior ended up 10th and 14th in the breaststroke events at his final NCAA Championships, and he posted no standout in-season swims in the buildup to Nationals. But Matheny turned his season around Wednesday, jumping out in front of the 200 breast national final to secure his return to the World Championships.
“It’s kind of a testament to how hard we train at Indiana that I know I can step up and rip as hard as I can every time,” Matheny said. “And I know with my mindset, I just want to be in it each time. As long as I’m in it, I know I can get my hand there.”
Matheny chose to not wait for the field on this occasion, and he went out in 1:00.88 at the 100-meter mark, six tenths under American-record pace and just off world-record time. Matheny would pay for his early burst of speed, his stroke shortening as fatigue set in, but he did enough to hold off a hard-charging field, with AJ Pouch and Gabe Nunziata leading the way.
“I can’t say there was a whole lot of thought going on there. I like to swim that race from ahead, and obviously, that was a very fast first 100. That wasn’t exactly the plan, but I knew that I had to let it rip if I had a chance,” Matheny said.
His final length split of 34.88 was second-slowest in the eight-man field, but Matheny embraced the pain. “The piano man came for me,” he said. “I kind of had a feeling that would happen regardless, and so I just knew I had to be as far ahead as I could at the 150 because the piano man was coming regardless of what I was out in. I might as well try to be as far ahead as possible and hope for the best.”
Matheny touched in 2:08.87, securing his spot representing the U.S. for the third consecutive year. Pouch grabbed second in 2:09.31, off his prelims time of 2:08.96 but four tenths clear of Nunziata, whose third-place mark of 2:09.71 made him the second-fastest 17-18 swimmer in American history.
While Matheny will continue his run on the global level, Pouch will make his debut after a heartbreaking result in last year’s Olympic Trials final. He had dropped more than two-and-a-half seconds between prelims and semifinals to earn lane five for the biggest moment of his career to that point. Pouch was in position to earn the second spot, but he faltered down the stretch as Matheny moved ahead.
That put Pouch in a cruel spot, his third-place result more than a second behind his best time, but now he will head to his first global-level competition alongside Matheny.
Entering the competition, the men’s breaststroke events looked to be among the weakest for the U.S. men, particularly with 100 breast Olympic silver medalist Nic Fink out of competition since the Games while Matt Fallon, the American-record holder in the 200, skipped the meet. The times posted here by Matheny and Pouch will not be winning medals on a global level, but those concerns are now somewhat assuaged with both ranking among the world top-10.
