Georgia Native Owen McNear is Working Laborious, Staying Centered in Chase for Extra Worldwide Success

Owen McNear is a school sophomore, however he nonetheless remembers what it was like being an up-and-comer new to the ins and outs of the Para swimming world. 

So, when a younger athlete on the Lakeshore Para Swim Open Series meet in early March hit a few rising instances, McNear talked along with her about what meaning as regards to the nationwide group and what to anticipate subsequent. He remembered the primary time he received an rising minimize, he stated, and among the strain he felt taking such an enormous leap ahead in his profession. 

“(It felt like) OK, you’re here and you have to be up next,” stated McNear, who’s majoring in biomedical physiology on the University of Georgia with the hopes of maybe changing into a heart specialist or orthopedic surgeon. “I want to help athletes to not feel that pressure, to know you don’t have to be top dog right now. Just keep working, and it will be your time. You don’t have to rush it today.” 

That is one thing that McNear has discovered solely lately. Two years in the past he was 18 years outdated and getting ready for his first U.S. Paralympic Team Trials. He received his first worldwide race in April 2024, taking first within the 100-meter backstroke S9 on the Para Swimming World Series meet in Indianapolis, however didn’t have his greatest meet at trials and was not included on the roster for Paris. It was a blow that he felt for months, he stated, however now he seems to be again on the expertise in a different way.  

“I think, honestly, it was just that it wasn’t my time,” stated McNear, of Evans, Georgia. “Maybe it just wasn’t my year to go. And that’s fine. Did it hurt? Absolutely. But it was one of those things where maybe it did need to happen, and I had to learn from it and just keep working so that it is my time.” 

McNear had one other eye-opening expertise at his first abroad worldwide meet final fall. He was a part of a comparatively small contingent of U.S. athletes on the Para Swimming World Series cease in Lima, Peru, and touring exterior the nation whereas representing Team USA felt very totally different from competing at a world meet in Indianapolis. 

“It made me understand that, man, this is real,” he stated. “I gained a new sense of pride for the U.S., and seeing how well we did made me want to make sure that I do well, too.” 

McNear’s favourite race was the 400-meter freestyle. He took second within the last, and though first-place finisher, Erick Tandazo of Ecuador, beat him handily, McNear stated it was nonetheless so enjoyable. 

“Just because of how much that meant to me, and also how much that meant to the winner because we had a little talk in the waiting area for the medal ceremony and he was like, ‘Man this is my first-ever international medal,” McNear stated. “It stinks I didn’t win, but he deserved it. He’d been working so hard to get that. I was so happy to race someone like that because it meant so much to him, and I felt like it reflected how I felt in that moment.” 

McNear trains with the Athens Bulldogs Swim Club, and his focus this 12 months is on the 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter backstroke and 400-meter freestyle. A member of the 2026 Under-23 nationwide group, he’s engaged on getting stronger and faster together with his sprints, and on his tempo and breath work for the 400, homing in on these three as his best occasions. 

Nationals in June will likely be an enormous meet, and McNear can also be concentrating on the Para Pan Pacific Championships within the fall in California. But in contrast to two years in the past, he’s not placing a lot strain on himself to make the group that swimming turns into one thing he has to do as a substitute of one thing he desires to do. 

“I wasn’t really having as much fun as I probably could have,” he stated of the leadup to the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials. “Then I have these experiences like going to Peru and Lakeshore, and I’m like man, this is what swimming’s all about. It’s about having fun. It sounds cheesy, but I swim better when I’m happy. I’m just trying to do better and stay happy with how I’m training, happy with how I’m racing, and make sure I know that a bad race doesn’t mean I’m bad. Just focus on the positives. And that’s a big kudos to my coaches and the para staff for really helping me with that.” 

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has coated Olympic and Paralympic sports activities for numerous publications. She is a contract contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.