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Brunsky’s training pays off with state championship
Matt Brunsky put in the work and effort to become a state champion swimmer at Vandalia Butler High School. (Courtesy: Matt Brunsky)

Brunsky’s training pays off with state championship

DAYTON, Ohio (BVM) — Swimming has been a part of Matt Brunsky’s life ever since he was introduced to the sport at a young age.

After recently winning the 50m freestyle and finishing fourth in the 100m freestyle at the state meet, Brunsky a senior at Vandalia Butler High School reflects on his progression, the effects swimming has had on his life and what he has in store for the future.

It all started when his mother introduced him to swimming. Brunsky at first did it just for fun, but it took him a while before he could really begin to take it seriously.

“It was probably around like freshman or sophomore year that I realized that I could really do something with it,” Brunsky said.

It was quite evident that the potential was there as Brunsky was on Vandalia Butler’s relay team at state as a freshman. The experience was beneficial to help better himself as a swimmer.

Brunsky has also spent time swimming with the Dayton Raiders, and thanks the Raider coaches for helping him get better everyday and sharing their knowledge. He even saw a difference in his swimming form.

“It was horrendous, the form was not good at all,” Brunsky said. “I just had a lot of speed and power. Now I have the speed and power, and am a little bit stronger, a little bit faster.”

For his sophomore season, he missed out on state despite performing well at districts. He would then push himself even more to get better. 

Matt Brunsky credits his time with the Dayton Raiders for changing his swimming career. (Courtesy: Matt Brunsky)

“I didn’t make state that year so I realized that I have to switch up my training a little bit, and that’s when I decided to join the Raiders.”

Another contributing factor to Brunsky’s success is joining the Dayton Raiders. They are a club swimming team that practices yearround, and Brunsky would train with them. He states that their practices would usually run for over two hours.

The Raiders practice schedule would often interfere with his high school’s practices. Brunsky explains that he and his high school coach came to a mutual agreement which allowed him to practice with the Raiders because they trained more.

“Typically, we would have doubles two to three times a week which would consist of getting up at 4 a.m. and then swimming in the morning and then going to school,” Brunsky explained. “We’d come back and swim in the afternoon for a total of like three to four-and-a-half hours.”

Before he was officially on the Raiders, an injury served as a minor setback. Brunsky explains how he had double hernias in his abdomen which required surgery. After he recovered, Brunsky was officially on the team and he began his training.

“They did a lot more than I was used to, and it definitely helped me, I got a lot better,” Brunksy said. “I’ve been getting a lot better since joining that team.”

Brunsky saw the results quickly since he was practicing with fast swimmers which made him want to get better. He described how in most meets, you would see a Raider in the fast heat. This means that they were in the later races while the slower heats went first. 

Brunsky had to work his way up to eventually swim in the fast heats, but as of right now, he is currently swimming in the faster heats.

All of this training prepared Brunsky to make a deep run in his junior season where he qualified for state in four events. They were the 400m free relay, 200m medley relay, the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle.

Brunsky placed seventh in the 50m freestyle and placed fourth in the 100m freestyle. The road to state wasn’t easy as Brunsky had to face off against one of his Raider teammates at districts.

“In the 50 I beat him at districts, just out touched him by 0.7 or so,” he noted. “Then in the 100 at districts, he out touched me by 0.03, and then at state he just barely beat me again.”

After the end of his junior season, Brunsky’s training with the Raiders was put on hold due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus. He had to undergo two months without training in between his junior and senior year.

It was difficult to acclimate to their normal training again, but after four weeks of practice, they were back in the motions. Brunsky began to push himself even more by doing more lifting and bike riding to prepare for his senior season.

“I wanted to do something big with my senior year,” Brunsky said.

Brunsky would keep true to those words as he was in the best swimming shape in his high school career. He would soon suffer another setback as he injured his wrist and elbow while skateboarding which sidelined him for eight weeks.

After a fantastic senior season at Vandalia Butler, Matt Brunsky will look to continue his swimming career in college. (Courtesy: Matt Brunsky)

After he returned, he competed in one meet where he claimed he didn’t do too well so he decided to make a commitment.

“That’s when I instantly decided that every single practice I am going all out and doing the right type of stuff that I need to do to make sure I get faster.”

His dedication would quickly pay off as at his first high school meet of the season, he would get his best time in the 50m freestyle with a swim of 20.99 seconds. He also set two meet and pool records at the Princeton Invitational.

Brunsky would once again make it to state in his senior year but he had one goal in mind: to win an event.

“I was a bit on edge because I really wanted to win state at least in one event and it was kind of nerve-racking because this would be my last chance to,” Brunsky explained.

He would keep true to his wish as he finished first in the 50m freestyle despite a close battle. After finding out he won, he was really excited in the moment. But for him, it was on to the next goal.

Brunsky recently competed in a meet to try to get an Olympic trial cut but missed out on it. Right now, he is focused on swimming in college and is talking to a few schools.

“Right now I’m talking to University of Cincinnati, LSU and IUPUI,” Brunsky said.

Brunsky is still swimming with the Raiders and is currently on his twoweek break, but he is looking forward to having a fun summer for his senior year. He will continue to train to make sure to have an explosive start to his freshman year in college.