Not only is swimming one of the most physically demanding sports one could endure; it’s also a mental war, a grueling battle between body and mind to shave tenths, hundredths or thousandths of a second off your best time.
Madison Wimmer rarely felt like she was fighting alone. Anytime the Methacton senior has needed to dig deep for a big swim, she looks to her No. 1 supporter, her father Michael Wimmer, whether on the deck or in the stands.
Michael Wimmer swam in high school at La Salle and is active in the sport as a coach for the Methacton Aquatic Club, alongside fellow coach and Methacton high school coach Tori Rosa. Michael Wimmer was the perfect person to put young Madison on her current path while also letting her discover a love for the sport on her own time.
“I did dance, softball, field hockey and even karate, trying to find one that stuck, but I didn’t like any of them,” Madison said. “Then my dad kind of said, ‘Let’s just go see if she likes it (swimming).’ Always having him in the stands when he first started watching me, him being there has always been really special to me.
“Then he started coaching me on the deck, and it became a nice bonding point between us. He’s always taught me how to deal with the mental side. Going to meets and not dropping time every single time can be exhausting mentally. Practice is always so hard, so it was always nice to have him around cracking jokes on the deck keeping everyone in the right mindset.”
The most important thing Michael Wimmer passed on to his daughter was that swimming was both difficult and fun.
Madison took the lessons to heart in her recently-completed senior season at Methacton in which she won two PIAA medals in the 200 and 500 freestyle events, earning her the honor of 2023-24 Mercury All-Area Girls Swimmer of the Year.
In her final trip to the PIAA Championships, Wimmer jumped from eighth to fourth place in the 200 free with a 1:01.76, an improvement on her junior year. Meanwhile, the improvement in the 500 free was even more impressive, going from 5:01.29 and 10th place as a junior to 4:56.01 and second place as a senior.
“It was an amazing experience,” Wimmer said. “I didn’t go into the 200 free thinking I’d get fourth place or my best time; I just wanted to make Tori and my parents (Michael and Stephanie) happy while fulfilling my goals, so we were all over the moon.
“It was definitely surreal having (the 500 free) be my last race. I couldn’t have ended it any better, swimming my own race against great competition while making myself and everyone around me proud. Having that finish and seeing my parents and Tori was a life-changing, amazing moment that is always going to stick with me.”
When Wimmer got to Methacton for high school and grew to know girls head coach Rosa, she was convinced that swimming competitively at a high level was a venture worth pursuing. However, like all student-athletes who started high school in the fall of 2020, Wimmer all but lost her freshman season due to the pandemic. There were a few dual meets, and Wimmer could sometimes practice at Methacton’s pool that winter, depending on whether or not there was a COVID spike.
If the Methacton pool was unavailable, Wimmer and some teammates would travel close to an hour to swim in an outdoor pool that was still operational — in December and January. The hard work paid off, as Wimmer’s extra efforts helped qualify her for districts in the 500 freestyle, finishing 10th.
“It was absolutely freezing, but it changed who I was,” Wimmer said. “I realized that if I wanted to be good, I had to put in the work no matter what. It was a weird year, but it made me realize how lucky I was to still have these next three years of regular high school swimming.”
Wimmer made up for lost time as a sophomore, winning the 200 individual medley and placing third in the 100 backstroke at the league championship meet. She followed that up by finishing third in the 200 freestyle and 11th in the 100 freestyle at districts. Wimmer qualified for states in the 200 free, making it to the ‘B’ final and finishing 10th, two spots short of a state medal.
Wimmer was far from finished. She won the 200 IM again as a junior at PACs while jumping from third to second place in the 100 backstroke. Wimmer followed with two sixth-place finishes at districts in the 200 and 500 free, results she was disappointed with considering she had placed third in the 200 free a year earlier.
“I thought based on how districts went that it would take a toll on how my season would end,” Wimmer said. “I went in thinking my placement would improve, so it was an eye-opening reality. If I wanted to do this in college, I had to realize I wasn’t going to swim my best meets all the time. I had to keep my head down, swim really hard every day at practice and work my butt off to get the results I wanted.”
She made it back to states, making it to the ‘B’ final and a 10th-place finish in the 500 free while also earning her first state medal in the 200 free, placing eighth.
“I worked on the mental side, staying focused between districts and states,” Wimmer said. “All of the work paid off, and I was happy to see everything I put into the season came out at the end.”
As a senior, she won the 200 IM at PACs for the third straight year while also emerging victorious in the 100 free. Wimmer then nabbed two third-place results at districts in the 200 and 500 free, which earned her the right to head to Bucknell University on March 13-14 to swim those events at her final PIAA Championships. Wimmer saved her very best for last … at least when it comes to high school swimming.
She is bound for James Madison University to keep her swimming career going. She plans to study elementary education to become a teacher and coach … just like her dad.
“I’ve learned firsthand about my dad’s experiences as an elementary school teacher, and I got to take an eye-opening class working with kids that I loved every minute of,” she said. “He always jokes that I’m going to come back from college and take his jobs.”
Michael Wimmer’s influence on Madison’s life is clear, including the most important lesson she will carry forward from her time at Methacton.
“Have fun while putting in the work to get the results you need doing what you love,” she said. “Those are the memories that will stick with me forever.”
