Meet Betsy “The Barracuda” Matheney
Enjoy our new segment in the Weekly Grind so you can meet and learn more about our fighters! This week, meet Betsy “The Barracuda” Matheney!
- When were you diagnosed with Parkinson’s?I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2018. I think it took me a couple of years though to figure it out. I threw out a good bottle of perfume because I thought it lost its smell!!!
- When did you start coming to 110 Fitness?I moved to Massachusetts in spring of 2023 and joined 110 Fitness in June of that year. It has been the best “find” I found in Massachusetts!
- What’s your favorite class or activity at 110?The water boxing classes are my fave because they make me feel like my old self. However, I enjoy every class I take and love the variety of styles in coaching from Brett, Anna, and Jill. I also enjoy the enthusiasm that all the cornermen have. They are very inspiring!
- What do(did) you do for work?I taught Physical Education and Health (grades 4-12) at the Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for 22 years. I also coached swimming, cross country, track and field, volleyball, and softball. I have over 50 athletes inducted into the Pine Crest Athletic Hall of Fame. I finished my teaching career at Saint Edward’s School in Vero Beach, Florida working with Pre-K-5th graders. During the summers, I got out of the Florida heat and worked as Pool Director and Swim Coach at Mt. Kisco Country Club, The Whippoorwill Club, and The Patterson Club. After 30 years of teaching, I spent the next 15 years coaching competitive swimming in Connecticut.
- What would you like us to know about you and your family?I grew up in Westchester County New York and swam for the local summer club and YWCA. When they couldn’t offer me enough training, I went to boarding school at Pine Crest and swam for Olympic Coach, Jack Nelson. I was a multi-event All-American swimmer in high school. I then went to the University of Alabama where I started the women’s program and became their first All-American swimmer. I met my husband (also a swimmer) at PC and we had one daughter, Tory. She could swim at 12 months of age, but ended up becoming a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do instead. Now she is the CEO and CFO of touring trolleys, Mobsters and Lobsters and The Boston Trolley Company. I now “work” for her by being involved in my grandson’s life.
- Any fun hobbies you’d like to share?When you live in Ft. Lauderdale our house was always full of visiting friends. We had boarders from all around the world. I began a rock collection, and we would put a pin on a HUGE world map from where the people and rocks came from. I also learned how to say, “I love you,” and “Hello, What’s Happening” in over 30 languages. (I’m not as good now in remembering them, though. LOL)
- How has 110 Fitness impacted your life outside of the gym?110 Fitness has given me the motivation to try new things, renew past interests, and to keep working on myself physically and mentally. Thanks to YOUTUBE I have renewed my interest in playing keyboard and guitar. By nature, I am a very introverted person and very slow at meeting new people and places. 110 offers so many activities outside of the club and eventually I will start to participate in them. For the first time in my life, I am not living by water or involved in the swimming community. I am definitely a “fish out of water.” However, I did swim on a club whose mascot was a MUDSKIPPER. (Look it up!) That’s me!