Neshannock’s McBeth does it all on his own
Swimming is an individual sport by nature, but the team aspect is still an important part of the equation — except for Neshannock’s Conner McBeth, that is.
It’s not that McBeth is a selfish individual who doesn’t care about the team. But McBeth is one of only three boys swimmers for the Lancers, who don’t actually have an official high school team. McBeth and the other swimmers represent Neshannock at high school meets, but in the grand scheme of things, they’re all competing independently.
“Our school doesn’t really have a proper team. I just kind of represent my school,” McBeth said. “We don’t even have a pool or anything. I just practice with my YMCA team. I would swim recreationally like at local pools. I only started swimming competitively when I was 12.”
As independents, McBeth and his teammates are paired with host schools and are permitted to compete only at dual meets hosted by those schools — as long as there are enough lanes available. Their host schools this year are West Allegheny and Moon.
With the lack of access to a school pool to practice in daily, combined with the lack of a structured team environment, McBeth might seem to be at a major disadvantage compared to the other top swimmers in the area. That may be true, but it sure hasn’t seemed to hinder him much, based on the West Virginia recruit’s past performances.
As a freshman, McBeth placed ninth in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle at the 2018 PIAA Class 2A championships. As a sophomore, he improved to second place in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle at the 2019 PIAA championships after winning a WPIAL title in the 50 freestyle and finishing in second place in the 100 freestyle.
McBeth repeated as WPIAL champion in the 50 freestyle and runner-up in the 100 freestyle as a junior, but last year’s PIAA championships were cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The PIAA decided to use the qualifying times submitted prior to the event to determine the placewinners in the events that could not be completed, including both of McBeth’s events. His qualifying time of 45.08 seconds in the 100 freestyle was good enough to earn a silver medal, while he finally captured his first PIAA gold medal in the 50 freestyle with a seed time of 20.80.
Naturally, winning a state title without ever diving into the pool at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium was a surreal feeling for McBeth — one he hopes to replace with the feeling of touching the wall first in the finals at this year’s PIAA championships.
“I felt like I kind of didn’t earn it,” McBeth said. “Like I did, but I didn’t get to swim for it, if you know what I
mean. I wish I would have been actually able to compete for it and earn it properly.”
Although McBeth doesn’t have a pool at school to train in, he spends about seven hours per week swimming at his local YMCA with his coach, Anita Murphy. He also takes private lessons with Jeff Berghoff at Moon, and spends the rest of his practice time doing dryland workouts to simulate his swimming routines.
Technically, McBeth’s mother, Karen, is listed as Neshannock’s swimming coach, but McBeth considers her to be more of a cheerleader than coach.
“On paper, for Neshannock, yes, she is my coach. But in reality, no offense to my mom, she doesn’t know a whole lot about coaching,” McBeth said. “She may not be the best coach, but she is the best supporter.”
Once he begins his college career at West Virginia, McBeth may need to make a few adjustments to his schedule. After only practicing seven hours per week in high school, that number will shoot up to about 20 hours per week next fall.
It’s a sacrifice McBeth is willing to make, though — especially if it means having unrestricted access to a pool whenever he wants to train.
“If I only practice this little at this level, I can only imagine what I’ll do once I get in a proper team with proper coaching and a lot of practice,” McBeth said.
For now, though, McBeth still has one more year to add to his collection of WPIAL and PIAA titles — and he’ll have an old rival standing in his way in at least one event. Belle Vernon senior Ian Shahan is the two-time defending WPIAL champion in the 100 freestyle, and McBeth expects to race side-by-side with Shahan once again in this year’s finals.
“I love racing against him,” McBeth said. “He’s super good competition. Every time I go against him, he always pushes me to go faster than I ever have before.
“I just swam against him at the 2020 winter 18-and-under championships, and I just out-touched him for the first time, so I’m super excited about that. It gave me some excitement and hope that I’ll take first this year.”