Matthews earns area swimmer of the year

Wilmot junior Emmett Matthews achieved his goal of advancing to state for the first time in 2017.

Wilmot junior gives credit to team

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Through Emmett Matthews’ junior season with the Lake Geneva Badger co-op boys swimming team, he garnered several first-place medals, qualified for state in three events and notched a handful of personal best times.

Matthews, of Wilmot Union High School, can add Male Athlete of the Year to his list of career achievements.

Although Male Athlete of the Year is an individual honor, Matthews attributes his success to coach Glen Biller and the rest of the Badger swim team, which often delivers cheers at every meet.

“It was an amazing feeling, and I give a lot of credit to my team and to my coach,” said Matthews. “They just encourage me to work hard.”

Matthews, who qualified for the Feb. 18 WIAA Division 1 state meet in three events, including two relay teams, made his first individual appearance in the 200-yard freestyle.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Matthews, along with Logan Rogers, Alex Laing and Jackson Biller, finished second with a posted time of 1:31.84 at sectionals Feb. 11 to qualify for the state meet a week later.

Additionally, Matthews serves as an anchor on the 400 freestyle relay team, which also advanced to the state meet following its second-place finish at sectionals.

At the state meet, the 400-yard freestyle team snagged a personal best, clocking in at 49.20.

Two sectional personal bests
With two state qualifying relay teams, Matthews notched two personal bests at the Feb. 11 sectional meet, including the 200-yard freestyle event, where he took second at 1:48.51.

Matthews’ second place finish in 200 freestyle came after he won the Southern Lakes Conference title a week earlier.

Matthews’ other personal best came in the 500-yard freestyle, where he missed the state qualifying mark by about two seconds but finished second at 5:01.42.

Before his sectional appearance, Matthews notched a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle at the Jan. 28 Racine Case Invitational, where he finished with a time of 23.18.

Season goal achieved
Entering his junior season, Matthews had one goal, to qualify for the state meet as an individual.

Matthews, who finished in the bottom half of the 200 freestyle, cites rattled nerves as the cause.

“This year, my goal was to make it to state for the first time in an individual event,” he said. “But, I got a little nervous, since it was my first time going in for an individual event.”

As Matthews looks ahead to his senior season, he plans to continue his workout regimen, which consists of rigorous weight training and dry land exercises with “hopes of reaching the podium” at state.

Team-first mentality
When he starts his senior season, there is one team ritual he looks forward to, hitting the dry land in an activity to bolster chemistry.

“It’s probably the first Saturday practice before we start the season, and Coach Biller would have all of us play frisbee, toss it around, so we can trust each other,” said Matthews.

Coupled with an immediate team bonding exercise, said Matthews, there is another exercise during the season.

“We just focus on that one meet, and we cheer for every single person at that meet, and get as loud as we can,” said Matthews.


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