Jefferson Swimmer Off to Junior Olympics

Matt Xenitelis has only been swimming since the age of seven. The Jefferson resident has come a long way because now, at the age of 12, he has qualified for the Junior Olympics in four different events.

Xenitelis swims for in Jefferson Township, which is a member of the North Jersey Regional Lake League.

At the season-ending banquet last fall, Xenitelis’ coach told his parents that they should consider having him swim at a YMCA, because he had potential to go far. His parents took that advice to heart, enrolled him at the Randolph YMCA, and the rest is history.

This weekend, Xenitelis will be competing in the Junior Olympics at Rutgers University. He qualified in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 32:71, the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:10.74, the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:30.09 and the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 27.77.

“I just love being in the water,” Xenitelis said. “A lot of other kids complain about going to practice, but I like it, because I get to be in the water. I get to keep trying to be better than everyone else, and keep beating my own times.”

A typical week of practice for Xenitelis includes 1.5 – 2 hours of practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and weekends if there are no scheduled meets. Besides water practice, some of this time includes dry land practices, which involves weight lifting and cardiovascular exercise.

All this practice will do Xenitelis well in his future, which he hopes will include more swimming.

“I definitely want to swim in high school and college, and if I’m good enough, well, who wouldn’t want to go to the Olympics?”

When he’s not in the pool, Xenitelis likes to play football and basketball and hang out with his friends.

And Xenitelis’ mom? She’s become quite the reader and movie fan.

“I have to sit and wait at a lot of practices,” she said. “I bring a book or my DVD player so I can watch a movie. It gets crazy sometimes, but I want what’s best for him, and this is what he does well.”