Athlete of the Week: Matthew O'Donnell

Matthew O’Donnell, 16, is a junior at Cardinal Mooney and a member of both his high school swim team and the YMCA Sharks. O’Donnell started competitively swimming at the age of 6 and has traveled as far as Palo Alto, Calif., and overseas to Athens, Greece, to swim competitively in the last 10 years. O’Donnell also has volunteered at the Special Olympics with his swim team.

“I really like it,” he said of the experience. “It is inspirational, and it makes me remember how lucky I really am.”

O’Donnell recently came in first in the 500 freestyle and second in the 100 backstroke at regionals and also broke the 100 backstroke record at Cardinal Mooney while competing at the event. The record now is 53.31 seconds.

He will be competing Friday, Nov. 11, in two events at the state meet at the International YMCA in Orlando.

How did you get into swimming?
My first coach was my first-grade teacher, Mr. Matthews, and he said that if you were on the team, you got to go to a theme park. So, I said, “Yeah, definitely, I’ll go!” We went to Six Flags in New York.

What was the hardest stroke to learn?
The breaststroke. It is every swimmer’s worst enemy because there are so many moving parts to it and it’s really difficult.

What is your favorite event to swim?
My favorite event is not during the high school season but during regular club season, and it is the 200 back. I’ve always really liked it, and I am better at longer events than shorter events.

What is the key to a good backstroke?
It is really important to have good underwater dolphin kicks. It’s one of my weaker points, but I’ve been really working hard to get those better.

What are your future in terms of swimming?
I would really like to make it to the Olympic trials for 2012 or 2016.