Swimming
Favorite athlete: Michael Phelps
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Qualifying for states in the 100 breaststroke at districts my junior year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I got to dive in one meet against Abington with only two days of practice.
Music on iPod: Punk Rock
Future plans: To attend Bloomsburg University majoring in Exercise Science. I am also swimming at Bloomsburg.
Words to live by: “No matter how great you become, never forget how you started.”
One goal before turning 30: To graduate from Bloomsburg and land a job that I enjoy.
One thing people don’t know about me: I like to play guitar
By Mary Jane Souder
There are three benches on the playground at Holland Elementary School, and at first glance, they look like ordinary benches.
In fact, they’re anything but ordinary.
The three benches - with the words ‘Buddy Benches’ engraved on the back - were the brainchild of Council Rock South senior Matt O’Donnell, himself once a student at Holland Elementary.
“My family has been a big part of that school,” said O’Donnell, the captain of Rock South’s swim team. “They’ve done a lot for me, so I just wanted to give back to the school for what they did for me.”
So when it came time for O’Donnell to do his Eagle Scout project, he came up with the idea of building buddy benches.
“They’re benches that go on the playground that keep kids included during recess,” he said. “They’re regular benches, but the purpose behind them is so kids could make more friends and be included in recess so they’re not left out.”
Instead of standing on the fringes of the playground feeling alone and left out, students can now sit on the buddy benches, which immediately puts them in the middle of the action.
“It kind of goes along with the four pillars of character they have at Holland Elementary School – respect, responsibility, cooperation and sportsmanship,” O’Donnell said. “They have been following those four pillars of character since I was there and they still use them today.
“I thought this would be pretty cool since it goes along with those four pillars. I hate bullying and when kids are left out during recess and all that stuff.”
The process to make the buddy benches a reality, according to O’Donnell, was a lengthy one.
“I had to get the project approved by my troop,” he said. “I had to get it approved by the Council for Boy Scouts, and then I had to take it to the principal (Andy Sanko) at Holland Elementary School and present it to him.
“He loved the idea right away. After that I had to recruit kids in my troop to come help me actually build these benches and install them at the school.”
The culmination of the project came when O’Donnell – in his full Boy Scout uniform – addressed the students of Holland Elementary School at a special assembly.
“To really make sure the kids in the school knew how to use the benches, I did an assembly and explained the purposes behind them,” O’Donnell said. “All the kids were looking up to me. That was pretty cool.”
Coach George Eastburn is not surprised the see his senior captain giving back to his elementary school.
“He definitely represents the team well,” the Golden Hawks’ first-year coach said. “We have locker room meetings before meets, and he does a good job of getting the boys ready for a meet – he gets them revved up.
“He’s good on the pool deck. He’s very good at organizing and maintaining order and helping the underclassmen, getting them up to speed and things like that.”
*****
Matt O’Donnell got his start in the pool at Northampton Swim Club as an age group swimmer when he was seven or eight years old. As he progressed, he began swimming for Council Rock Aquatics Club during the winter.
“I started swimming because all my cousins did it, and there’s kind of a thing in the family,” he said. “In the beginning, it was just a summer sport at Northampton Swim Club, so it wasn’t a huge thing.
“Once I started swimming for Council Rock Aquatics, practices got harder. It was just more of a commitment. That’s really where I started to fall in love with the sport.”
As a freshman at CR South, O’Donnell served notice that he had a bright future, qualifying for districts in his event – the 100 breaststroke.
“That was something I never thought I could do, and I realized, ‘Wow, I could actually do pretty good,’” O’Donnell said.
He’s qualified for districts every year since and last year competed in the 50 free and 100 breast as well as the medley relay and 200 free relay, finishing fourth in the 100 breast.
“I remember finishing that race, not realizing what lane I was in, and I looked up at the clock and I saw a time that was only one-hundredths of a second faster than my best time,” O’Donnell said. “Then I looked over and saw my coaches going nuts.
“I didn’t realize what I did. I got out of the pool, and they said, ‘You’re going to states.’”
His time of 58.98 easily trumped his previous best of 1:01.
“Last year my coach – whenever he wanted to motivate me – would say, ‘Do you want to make states?’” O’Donnell said. “I didn’t really think it was something that could actually happen. After that race, it was crazy. I was so excited.”
He finished 19th at states, and at this weekend’s district meet, O’Donnell – the SOL National Conference champion in the 100 breaststroke - will be competing in the 100 breast, the medley relay and the 200 free relay.
O’Donnell played a key role in Rock South’s success this year that included the team’s first win over archrival Council Rock North in 10 years.
“We share the pool with North, so it’s kind of a friendly rivalry with them,” O’Donnell said. “We always go back and forth. They always rub it in our faces when they would beat us, but they can’t do that anymore.
“It’s always friendly. We’ve been swimming with those guys since we were little.”
The Golden Hawks also came within five points of National Conference champion Pennsbury.
“The season was amazing,” O’Donnell said. “Everybody was successful this season. We had a ton of best times at SOLs.
“We had a couple of records come down throughout the season. Everybody has just been amazing, and I didn’t see it coming.”
O’Donnell was a huge part of the team’s in conference meets this season.
“He usually places first in the breaststroke, and he’s usually first in the 50 free,” Eastburn said. “He’s also a very strong freestyler.
“Matt is definitely naturally talented, and he’s a hard worker. He works hard at practice.”
O’Donnell has signed a letter of intent to take his talents to Bloomsburg University. Competing collegiately was something he knew was a possibility after he broke the one-minute barrier at districts last year. He chose Bloomsburg from a final list that included Arcadia and Wilkes.
“I visited all of them, and once I visited Bloomsburg and spent time with the team, I knew that was the school I had to be at,” he said. “The way the team bonds and gets along, and I just really loved the campus. They have the major I want – exercise science, but a lot of it was the team.”
That’s a familiar theme for O’Donnell.
“Just being part of the team is awesome,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade my teammates for anything. They’re just a great group of guys.
“I’ve made a great bunch of friends over the past four years. Yes, winning is great, but with this team, I’d be fine with losing too.”
