Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny, Oakland Catholic grad Leah Smith earn top 5 finishes at U.S. Olympic Trials

Michael Love | Tuesday, June 15, 2021 10:19 a.m.

Mike Lewis | USA Swimming

Oakland Catholic graduate Leah Smith competes at the TYR Pro Swim Series in March 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Josh Matheny made a push for a top-two finish and a spot on Team USA on Monday evening in the finals of the men’s 100-meter breaststroke at the Wave II U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb.

The Upper St. Clair grad and Indiana commit swam slightly faster than his semifinal time and finished fifth overall.

He clocked a time in the finals of 1 minute, 22 seconds, down from the 1:00.25 he recorded in the semifinals.

The top three in the event were separated by seven one-hundredths of a second – 58.73 to 58.80.

Matheny will return to competition Wednesday in the 200 breaststroke. He is the seventh seed (2:09.40).

Oakland Catholic graduate Leah Smith just missed a return trip to the Olympics in the women’s 400 freestyle as she placed third overall in Monday’s final with a time of 4:06.27.

She earned bronze in the 400 freestyle at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Smith will return to the pool Tuesday for the 200 freestyle, where she is seeded seventh (1:57.40).

Highlands grad Bailey Bonnett and Fox Chapel rising senior Zoe Skirboll both swam Monday in the women’s 100 breaststroke.

Skirboll, returning to Omaha after swimming at the Wave I Trials on June 4 and 5, finished 25th overall in the preliminaries with a time of 1:09.67. She came in as the 32nd seed.

Bonnett, making her return to the Olympic Trials after swimming there in 2016, was seeded 46th in the 100 breaststroke. She moved up three spots to 43rd overall with a time of 1:11.24.

Both Bonnett and Skirboll swim Tuesday in the women’s 200 individual medley.