Missouri swimmer Matthew Margritier walked across the pool deck with a bag of ice strapped to his shoulder. The senior, who had just competed in a weekend swim meet, smiled and called out, “Injuries are the worst!”
He would know.
Margritier’s story is one of character. It’s one of family and determination and it’s one of resilience.
Two years ago, Margritier’s swimming career was in jeopardy. The Kansas City native had just transferred to MU from Northwestern and was dealing with a severe back injury. Margritier, who is missing three discs in his back, battled through severe pain his entire sophomore season at Northwestern.
“I was just in a ton of pain,” he said. “Everything hurt. Sleeping was hard. (It was) just a really bad situation.”
Margritier came to MU looking for a school that was a better overall fit. He had to redshirt his first year with the Tigers, and, through his first semester with the team, was still unsure about his swimming future.
When he joined the Tigers, Margritier had physical therapy sessions several times a day to deal with his back. He credits the Mizzou trainers for getting him to the point where he could compete again.
“The Mizzou staff has done a great job with that,” Margritier said. “Just getting me to the point where I could even swim again, because I had a time there where I debated, ‘am I ever going to be able to swim?’”
After his redshirt season, Margritier made his Mizzou debut in the fall of 2014. In his first season with the Tigers, he qualified for the NCAA championships in the 50-yard freestyle. He also earned first-team All-American honors as a member of his new team’s 200-yard freestyle relay team.
This season, coach Greg Rhodenbaugh feels that his fifth-year senior can be even better. For relays especially, the coach feels Margritier’s presence will be invaluable and will help other swimmers on the team.
“He can be faster than he was last year, especially on the relays,” Rhodenbaugh said. “And, if he does that, we’ve got a whole group of people that are coming behind him that are going to be faster than what we had last year, too.”
Margritier experienced a small setback going into the season. He suffered a shoulder injury during dryland exercises that sidelined him for the first meet of the year.
“For as tough as he looks, his body lets him down a lot,” Rhodenbaugh said. “His body’s fairly fragile.”
After swimming in limited fashion the second meet of the season, Margritier moved into more of his normal role in the Tigers’ following meet. Oddly enough, one of the teams swimming at the meet was Northwestern.
Most of the Wildcats Margritier swam with have since graduated, but he was still able to see some of his former teammates at the competition.
“A couple of the guys that were there my sophomore year, they’re still here,” Margritier said. “Getting to see them is nice because I still love the guys on the team, but there’s a little bit of a rivalry there.”
Margritier’s journey with swimming has been a long and decorated one. He started swimming at the age of 8, and still holds four Missouri State High School Activities Association records from his time at Rockhurst High School.
Throughout his career, from elementary school to college, one aspect of Margritier’s life has remained constant: the support of his parents.
“In 15 years, they’ve only missed maybe five meets,” he said.
The supportive nature of the family has not gone unnoticed.
“They’re good people, the Margritiers are, and I’m glad they’re part of our program,” Rhodenbaugh said.
According to Rhodenbaugh, there are many lessons that younger swimmers can learn from Margritier. The senior’s coach has watched his strong work ethic in both practice and in the classroom, and also credits Margritier with being a strong communicator.
As he wraps up his collegiate career, Margritier wants to continue to build the Mizzou swim team tradition.
“I’ve only been a part of it for a few years, but I think it’s something that you buy into pretty quick once you get here,” he said. “I think we can teach our juniors, sophomores, freshmen about what we’ve started and what we’ve seen and what we want to build as a team.”
Before leaving the pool deck after a meet against his former team, Margritier packs up his kickboard and other swimming supplies. With ice still strapped to his shoulder, he exits to the locker room and leaves the facility. He has to meet his parents for dinner.
