BY KATE OVERBEY

Once upon a time, there was a young, nearly blind boy. He was forced to join a sport, climb out of his comfort zone, and into the world. This boy is named Matthew Burgess.  

As a seventh grader at Cincinnati Country Day, Burgess was forced by his parents and the school to take up a sport. Since Mr. Burgess was an avid swimmer, Matthew decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and join the junior high swimming and diving team. After moving back to Mariemont in the 9th grade, he joined the team at the high school with Coach Kevin Maness and Coach Jordan Schad.

“Matthew has improved tremendously in swimming over the years,” says Schad. “He is an extremely hard worker and gives his all on ever set and practice.” After training with the water warriors for nearly a year, Matthew’s teammates gave him the nickname Matthew ‘The Burge’ Burgess, which was soon after shortened to Burge.

“What I enjoy about Burge is his desire to want to get better.  It was not always there in the beginning but he has made so much progress each year and it because of his willingness to push himself on the challenging sets that I have given him,” Maness adds.

Burgess continued with swimming for all four years when, this year, his senior year, he reached his goal: districts. When Burgess found out he had qualified in the 100 Backstroke, he felt like his hard work hard paid off.

“I felt like I had done something big for me, at least,” says Burgess. “It was a huge moment for me.”

But his swimming career has not been without difficulty. Like most student-athletes, Burgess got home at late hours, usually around 6-7 pm, and still had mountains of homework. He sacrificed sleep, social time, and sometimes his sanity for the four months of the swim season.

“I tried to cut out as much goofing off and not-working time as possible. I put my study hall to good use. I really got as much work done as I could, as quickly as I could,” explains Burgess.

During his four years at Mariemont High School, Burgess has learned a lot about what it means to #bebetter

“I’ve definitely become more mature,” says Burgess. “ I’ve learned to work harder. I’ve learned to allocate my time better. I’ve learned to be a better person overall: nicer to strangers and nicer to my friends.”

Others have noticed Matthew’s growth too.

“Matthew has shown more improvement than any other swimmer that I have coached over the course of my 23 years of coaching at Mariemont” Coach Kevin says. “I feel like Burge has grown so much in not only his swimming abilities, but as well as being a team member and team leader.  Serving as a captain this season, he was one of the swimmers on the pool deck cheering his teammates on and following them along the side of the pool as they were racing.”

As Matthew grew as a person, he also grew closer to his friends, such as senior Scott Overbey.

“Matthew and I have so many inside jokes or things where we can just look at each other and have a conversation, or say something where no one else would get it, but he does. He is just one of those people for me,” says Overbey.

Graduation Sunday is May 28th, and after 4 long years at Mariemont High School, Matthew will be leaving MHS, but not without a piece of advice for students after him:

“Don’t let others who don’t know you and don’t truly care what’s best for you influence what you do. Let people who know you and care about you, let their thoughts and what they say influence you because they want the best for you.”