Swimming:
Favorite athlete: J.J. Watt
Favorite team: Kentucky basketball
Favorite memory competing in sports: Seeing my teammates succeed
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Slipping and wiping out on the pool deck.
Music on iPod: Everything
Future plans: Heading to the University of Kentucky for swimming.
Words to live by: “When something bad happens, you have three choices: Let it define you. Let it destroy you. Or let it strengthen you.”
One goal before turning 30: Start a family.
One thing people don’t know about me: I love to dance.
By Craig Ostroff
Upper Dublin and North Penn met in the pool on Dec. 17 in an early-season matchup of two of the area’s top boys swimming teams.
Upper Dublin senior Wyatt Amdor’s most memorable moment from the meet, however, had nothing to do with places, times or medals.
“The highlight of that meet for me was the very end, after the 400 free relay, we had some kids from the Special Olympics come in, and they swam a relay,” Amdor said. “Every person stayed, everyone was on their feet, and we had an opportunity to get in and swim with them.
“This one kid won, and to see the smile on his face when he finished, I was so happy for him, everyone was so excited for him. His reaction – that was the highlight for the meet, and maybe my season.”
For the record, the Cardinals topped the Knights that day by a score of 97-89, and Amdor’s efforts in the pool went a long way toward that victory. Ask him about his races, however, and those details simply aren’t as important to him.
“I know we did well,” he said. “I think we broke a couple records.”
It comes as no surprise to Upper Dublin boys swim coach Geoff Scheuer that Amdor would derive more pleasure from someone else’s success than from his own.
“I think Wyatt probably gets more excitement and is happier when other people do well than when he does well himself,” Scheuer said. “He gets so excited when he knows how hard his teammates work and he sees them go fast. He brings a positive attitude to everything and everyone and I think he carries himself in such a way that he shows he loves to be part of the team.”
“I think that’s pretty accurate,” Amdor said of his coach’s assessment. “It makes me excited when I see someone else do really well. I like seeing other people succeed because it’s for the team. I like to see that happen. I like seeing them happy and seeing them realize that all the hard work pays off.”
Of course, Amdor’s performances this year have helped make his coaches and teammates very happy as the Cardinals dominated the pool en route to the District One championship. The Cardinals earned their share of gold at the PIAA Class AAA mee as well, finishing second in the team standings to only La Salle.
At districts, Amdor broke the 56-second mark in winning the 100 breaststroke (55.99, more than two-and-a-quarter seconds ahead of second place) and swam in the second-place 200 medley relay and the gold-medal 400 free relay team that touched the wall more than six seconds ahead of the nearest competition. Amdor also took sixth in the 100 butterfly.
He and his teammates stepped it up again for the PIAA Championship meet. On the first day of the meet, Amdor swam the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay team that captured the gold. The next day, he swam in the state-record-setting 400 free relay and he captured individual gold in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 54.82.
“That’s something I strived for since I was a freshman,” Amdor said of the breaststroke medal. “I’ve talked to Geoff a lot, we had plenty of goal meetings. Last year I came in second, so that set the motivation for this year. It’s definitely nice, but I was more excited for the relays than my individual gold.”
“You could tell that for Wyatt, the 400 free relay was the best part of that meet,” Scheuer said. “The way that meet ended was all about the team. And Wyatt is all about the team.”
What makes that especially meaningful is that for the first two years of his high school career, Amdor was a part of a different team, having spent his freshman and sophomore years swimming for Perkiomen Valley High School before his family moved into the Upper Dublin School District. Amdor was still familiar with the Cardinals, though, having participated in the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club since he was a freshman.
“I came over from Perk Valley after my sophomore year, and I knew a lot of the guys from UDAC, but one of the first aspects I saw was the team orientation and the unity,” he said. “The people I didn’t know came in and introduced themselves and got to know me right away. I saw that as an opportunity, and that’s what I want to be like—when a new kid comes in, they can come to me.
“Coming to Upper Dublin was definitely an adjustment, but I knew my friends, my coaches, my family were there for me if I ever needed anything. And being a part of this team, I love training with the guys, swimming with the guys I’m with. It’s awesome to come to practice with them and to push each other as far as we can go.”
Scheuer said that Amdor’s familiarity with the team due to his participation in UDAC as well as his personality helped Amdor quickly fit in and become an invaluable member of the team for his contributions both during meets and outside of competition.
“Wyatt is a great worker, incredibly committed. He is the consummate team player,” Scheuer said. “He loves being a part of a team. He contributes to that atmosphere and he feeds off of that as well. He makes the team better, and the team makes him better.
“In addition to what he does for us in meets, he does a lot of little things. He’s always the first person to volunteer for things and help out. He always keeps a positive attitude. He never complains. He’s a glue guy, and you absolutely need that.”
As someone who enjoys seeing others perform and succeed in the pool, Amdor had a very special person to root for during his senior campaign, as his younger sister Abbie swam as a freshman for the girls’ swim team.
“That was really awesome,” he said. “She’s been working really hard, and it’s been nice to see the progress she’s been making. I’m the one who drives her to practice, and we’ve had countless conversations in the car and at home about her goals and what she wanted to accomplish this year. It’s awesome to see her hard work paying off. Nothing makes me happier than when she hits the wall and has a smile on her face.”
As the days are getting longer and warmer, Amdor admits he is well aware that the next time he watches his sister compete for the Cardinals, he will be an alumni and a visitor. He is finishing up his senior year in style, pulling in a GPA right around 4.0 in the last quarter. As has been drilled into him by Scheuer as well as his family, academics come first for Amdor. He has taken numerous honors-level courses throughout high school, and his success in the classroom helped earn him entry into the National Honors Society.
It’s also helped him blaze a path to Lexington for the next stage of his life. Amdor signed to swim for the highly touted University of Kentucky men’s team next year. He is entering the school with an undecided major, though he said he is leaning toward a business major.
“I felt at home at Kentucky,” Amdor said. “I knew since I was younger that I wanted swim in college. I want to take my career to the next level, and this school was what I needed. There are plenty of opportunities to succeed—in the pool, in the classroom, with getting jobs. And these are the guys I wanted to spend the next four years with.
“Kentucky had a senior breaststroker make the SEC finals and finished fourth overall, which is awesome for me, seeing how well he developed. But for right now, I’m just hoping go in there and do the best I can and do what I can for the team.”
And after Amdor has traded in Cardinal red for Wildcat blue, he will leave behind a legacy as one of the top breaststrokers and performers in the storied history of Upper Dublin boys swimming.
Not surprisingly, though, Amdor hopes he’ll be remembered less as a name and time in the record books, and more as a teammate and friend who tried to make everyone around him better teammates, better swimmers, and better people.
“Knowing the team can count on you to win a race or perform in a relay is great, but it’s important to me not just to be a leader in the pool, but outside the pool,” Amdor said. “One of the great things about being a senior is being a teacher and a leader for the underclassmen. The kids come in and we can take them under our wing and teach them what we’ve learned from the guys who were seniors when we were younger, and what we learned from our experiences.
“You get to teach them the things you’ve learned, not just in swimming, but in life. I would rather help a kid to be a great overall person than to be a great swimmer. At some point, swimming comes to an end, but life goes on. It’s great to be able to help someone to become a better swimmer, but it’s really special if you’re able to help someone become a better person.”
