Name: Medford Happenings Episode 60 Liam Murphy
Uploaded: 2026-10-02
Duration: 31 min 24 s
Description: Host John Petrella interviewed 11-year-old Medford resident Liam Murphy to discuss his accomplishments in competitive swimming and his future athletic goals.

AI-generated summary. Written by gemini-3.5-flash from the transcript below, which is the record. It may be incomplete or wrong; it does not report votes. Every item links to the moment it began.

Host John Petrella interviewed 11-year-old Medford resident Liam Murphy to discuss his accomplishments in competitive swimming and his future athletic goals.

0:25 Guest Introduction and WBZ-TV Feature — Host John Petrella introduced 11-year-old Medford swimmer Liam Murphy and played a WBZ-TV news feature highlighting his athletic achievements.
3:50 Swim Meet Achievements — Liam Murphy detailed his success winning eight medals at the 2025 AAU Junior Olympics, six gold medals at the 2026 Bay State Games, and eight medals at the 2026 National Junior Olympics.
6:32 Athletic Background and Mystic Swimming — Liam Murphy recalled starting his swimming training at Little Flippers in 2019 and later qualifying for the Mystic Swimming Club.
8:45 Favorite Events and Swimming Techniques — Liam Murphy explained why the 100-meter backstroke is his favorite event and discussed the physical differences and endurance required for various swimming strokes.
12:35 Training Regimen and Mystic Swimming Structure — Liam Murphy outlined his weekly in-water and dry land training, his current division in his swim club, and the commemorative rings he received for his Junior Olympic gold medals.
18:06 Race Preparation and Meet Dynamics — Liam Murphy described his mental preparation, how mechanical starting blocks are used, and what it is like competing with his club teammates.
24:27 Family Support and Future Goals — Liam Murphy recognized his parents' help with travel and officiating before sharing his goals to break high school records and swim in college.
29:28 Program Outro — John Petrella thanked Liam Murphy and concluded the program with information on how viewers can access Medford Happenings online and on television.

[John Petrella]: Hello everyone and welcome to Medford Happenings, a show for and about the City of Medford. I am John Petrella and the purpose of this program is to give Medford citizens facts and information to help you make informed choices and to discover city services or businesses you may not have been aware of. We have a special guest today, Liam Murphy, who is a standout young swimmer from Medford, whose accomplishments in the pool have already earned him national recognition. So let's introduce our special guest with a piece provided to us by our friends from WBZ-TV Boston.

[SPEAKER_00]: BZ's MVP of the week is a standout swimmer. As WBZ's Brandon Truitt shows us tonight, he is making a splash in national competition despite his young age.

[SPEAKER_04]: There's something in the water at Mystic Charter School in Malden. A pool prodigy in the making, and he's only 11 years old.

[SPEAKER_04]: Liam Murphy first started swimming when he was four, and he hasn't stopped. A member of the Mystic Swimming Club, Liam won a half dozen medals at the Bay State Games in June, but he made his mark last month at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Iowa. That's where he brought home another six individual gold medals more than anyone else in the tournament, the fastest in his age group at the national competition.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: It feels really good and it's also pretty really difficult to accomplish and you just have to push yourself really hard. It just makes you get better and better.

[SPEAKER_04]: The sixth graders favorite subject out of the pool is math. He has certainly learned the equation to success and he has the medals to prove it. Hard work plus determination and trusting the coaches and friends he's made along the way.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: They just pushed me really hard, and I'm still in competition with them, but we're still on the same team, so they make me go faster.

[SPEAKER_03]: He's very humble. He doesn't brag, doesn't really talk about his medals. He just puts in the work, every practice.

[SPEAKER_03]: He says, despite h like a pro at least four gives a lot of himself to He's very vocal, very com helps a lot of the other He shows up to practice e he's willing to work fir water, last person out. A Liam has big dreams to m with Michael Phelps as an

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I want to go to the Olympics, maybe. And I just want to improve my times as much as possible and also break the school records. I want to get into a good college for swimming and just accomplish a lot.

[SPEAKER_04]: Something tells me he'll pull it off. His hard work, dedication and sportsmanship are what make Liam Murphy BZ's MVP of the week.

[John Petrella]: Welcome, Liam. We are honored, and I mean honored, that you came to visit us at Method Happenings. Thank you so much for joining us today. So we're gonna get right into this now, okay? Let's talk about the AAU, I'm sorry, AAU Junior Olympics meet in Houston, Texas in 2025. At that time, I understand you were nine years old. And so how many medals did you win in that meet?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I won eight medals, and my best was a silver in the 100-meter backstroke.

[John Petrella]: So you got a silver in the 100-meter backstroke, but you won eight medals altogether. Yeah. That's unbelievable. Quite extraordinary beginning. And you were only nine years old.

[John Petrella]: okay so now let's fast forward june 2026 can you tell us about the bay state games and wellesley mass you made a huge splash tell us about how many medals you won i won six gold medals sweeping the competition six gold medals okay that's amazing and you swept the competition obviously wow So I understand after that, just weeks later, you traveled to Des Moines, Iowa for the 2026 AAU National Junior Olympic Games. How'd you make out there?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I got eight medals in total. Six gold medals, one bronze, and one fourth place medal.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I won the 50 free, 100 free, 50 back, 100 back, 50 butterfly, 100 butterfly.

[John Petrella]: 50, that's like meters, right? 100 meters? Wow, okay. So you must now be viewed as one of the nation's, seriously, that's something else, one of the nation's most accomplished young swimmers. That brought a smile to your face, Leo. It's got to feel great. Does it feel great?

[John Petrella]: Yeah, absolutely has to. That's, it's incredible that you could go and do that. All right, so tell me, or tell us, I should say, how did you become involved with swimming?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: And I was only four years old. And then I progressed to their swim team prep program. And I tried out for Mystic Swimming twice. The first time, I didn't make the team.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: okay and then the second time i did make the team and this was also during covid and for the second tryout i had um gone to the pool to find that my goggles were missing but um my mom had put them in And when we got home, we found out that our cat had taken them out of the bag and just like stolen them.

[John Petrella]: So the cat put a little crimp in your style on that day, right? Yeah. But you still did great. You still did great. You know, I got to ask you this. I mean, so You know everyone that's watching this show, they're going to look at all these medals. You're very accomplished. I mean it's incredible what you did. But when you first started out, right, you didn't make the swim team the first time out. So tell me a little bit about that.

What was it that you said to yourself, well, I'm not going to stop. I'm just going to go back and I'm going to make this team. What is it?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I just didn't want to give up. And also, my friends were on the swim team, so I wanted to be with them on the swim team. So I just tried my best and it paid off.

[John Petrella]: So you worked hard, you put the effort in and it paid off. That's a great story. That's what it's all about, not quitting, right? You don't quit. All right, so do you have a favorite, I mean, there's so many races you've been in. Do you have a favorite race? When you compete in a swim meet, You know, can you tell us, you're obviously doing a lot of meets. Is there a certain race you like best? Is there one that, you know, you can tell us why you like it more?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I like the 100 backstroke the best. Because it's my best event, and I have confidence that I can win it. Also, my friends, they're all good at different strokes, like breaststroke, freestyle, and butterfly, and I'm good at backstroke. It's challenging, and you need endurance to win it. And I have a lot of endurance, so that's an advantage to me.

[John Petrella]: Over other kids. Now, you're going against kids basically the same age? Yeah. Same age. And when you say endurance, so that means you feel you're stronger in longer races, the 100 meter versus the 50?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, so there is also yards. There's short course yards, short course meters, and long course meters. Short course yards means 25 yards, and long course meters is 100 meters, or 50 meters. And that's just the length of the pool. And of course, meters are longer than yards, so for the LCM, you have to have more endurance to win.

[John Petrella]: Okay, all right. So I'm going to ask you this now. Keep in mind, I'm not a swimmer. I mean, I can swim. I'm not a great swimmer. When I was young, I think I got as far as learning the dog paddle. You don't even know what that is, do you? You know what the dog paddle is? Yeah. That's what I learned how to do. So let me ask you this. You talk about endurance, okay? Breaststroke, backstroke, discstroke, whatever. So every race that you do, okay, and this is what I find incredible, you're using different

I don't know what the word is, Liam. You're using different muscles, different effort, different approach. Can you talk to us, you know, a little bit about that? So in other words, you know, do your legs get more tired or your arms or?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So the most tiring stroke is butterfly because you have to move your arms up out of the water and to breathe you have to take your head out of the water while you're doing this motion. And so it can be very tiring for like long distance butterfly races. Freestyle is less tiring, but for very long races, it can be very tiring.

[John Petrella]: I'm going to stop you for a second. Freestyle is just basically swimming?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: Yeah. It's called the front crawl, but in a race, there's an event called the 50 freestyle, and that means you can do any stroke, but everybody does the front crawl because that's the fastest.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: And then backstroke is also very tiring, but breaststroke is not very tiring as long as you're like not sprinting and moving very fast.

[John Petrella]: Okay. Any particular routine, regimen, I don't know what you want to call it, but are there certain exercises or certain ways you prepare, William? I mean, you coach certain things. I'm talking in and out of the water.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: And in swim practice, we work a lot on endurance and just like, even when you're tired, keep going as fast as you can.

[John Petrella]: Okay. And out of the water. What types of, are there exercises you do out of the water?

[John Petrella]: Practices that help with your endurance? Yeah. Okay. All right, so there's a lot, there's a lot more involved. Can you give me an example of an exercise? Is it fast walking? Is it jogging? Is it?

[John Petrella]: Oh, so you use all that stuff then? And that's to build strength? Okay, that's interesting. So there's a lot of work both in and out of the pool. And how many hours, just out of curiosity, I got a lot of questions, how many hours a week are you in the pool? I mean, practicing, put it that way.

[John Petrella]: All right, so you're doing four to five in, and what about outside?

[John Petrella]: Okay. So there's a lot of work that goes into this. This just doesn't happen because, you know, you enjoy swimming or you like swimming. You actually are putting a lot of work to get where you need to be. I want to make sure our audience understands that because, hold up that medal, will you please? I'm looking at all these medals and it's just like, it's, what medal is that now?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: Can you explain that one? This is the, this is from the 2025 Olympic, Junior Olympic Games, the 100 long course meter backstroke.

[John Petrella]: Okay. And I'm going to ask you this, you know, how many people, I mean, this is the whole country you're talking about, right? This ain't a little meeting like Medford, right? This is the whole country came here and you beat them all. You out swam everybody. That's just incredible. It really is. And I mean, so, and you got all these other medals and the rings. Can you hold that medal up again? Just hold it up a little higher.

Yeah, that's, I mean, this is beautiful, you know? And it's like I said, this is not local, this is national stuff. So you got a lot to be proud of. You should be proud of yourself. Really, that's incredible. So you mentioned your swim club, right? Can you tell me, talk to me about your swim club? What goes on with the...

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So we have a learn to swim program for younger kids, and then an intro to competitive swimming. And we have different groups, and it goes from dolphins, barracudas, stingrays, senior one, senior two, senior elite, and then varsity for the high school team.

[John Petrella]: Yes, senior two. Senior to it now. I'm gonna ask you this you gotta III don't know that any other senior to ever come away with what you have You don't know I don't think so, but I'd be curious to know I highly doubt it Liam that I mean I know you don't want to be bragging here, but Boy, that's that's something else. What what? What you did? Yeah, what what's what's the difference now? Can you hold up one of the rings? I?

What's the difference between the rings and the medal? Is there some different status?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So, if you win a gold medal, they only did the rings for the 60th anniversary of the Junior Olympics. So if you won a gold medal, you would also get the ring.

[John Petrella]: Okay, so that's really a special ring. That's something they don't normally do. Right? Yeah. So now I'm going to ask you, if I won those rings, because I like to show off sometimes, I'd be wearing those rings. Do you ever wear them or no way? Sometimes. Now tell me now, you do wear them sometimes, right? Yeah. How could you resist? You have to wear them.

[John Petrella]: A lot of bling. I call it bling on those rings. That's what people, yeah. Those are really incredible. So, you have an array of medals, rings. You know, you gotta be real proud of yourself. You really do. So, the next thing I wanna get into with you is up here. How do you mentally prepare for a swim meet? What's your routine? I'm sure you have a routine before every race, right? Certain things you do, don't do. So can you get into some details about that? I think that's important right before a race. Athletes tend to have many different ways of preparing. So how do you prepare?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I just have confidence that I can win and I try to improve my times every race and I make sure that my cap and goggles are on tight and I just like try to warm my muscles up. Okay. Like be prepared. I also use the wedge on the starting block and move it to the position that I like it, if it has a wedge.

[John Petrella]: I didn't even know there was such a thing as a wedge, and I'm sure a lot of people. Could you tell us a little bit about that? A wedge, starting block.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: It's at the back of the starting block, and you can move it back and forth, depending on how tall you are and how long. you are.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So if you're like a grown adult and you're probably gonna put it on the back end.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: But if you're just like a kid then you would put it more closer to the start.

[John Petrella]: And this allows you to push off? Mm-hmm. Is that what it is? Yeah. Okay.

[John Petrella]: So you'd wanna be, and you wanna be in a comfortable position when you first start out, right? So, now I watch swimming, the Olympics and all that. I see all kinds of stuff. Now, this might sound like a stupid question, but I have to ask it. All the races are different. Some you start off, are there any you start off inside the pool? There are races. No wedge blocks, no nothing.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: Well, it's only the backstroke because you swim on your back and you can't flip over in the air. So you go into the water and they have a handle you can grab. Then you pull yourself up and then just go.

[John Petrella]: So your back is facing where you're going? Yeah. and you hold it, and let me ask you, I know what I would do, I'd use my feet and push off as hard as I, that's allowable. So you use your feet, push off, let go, and then you do your backstroke, you're on your way. And is there any other ones that you start in the water? No. No. It's only backstroke. Only backstroke. So, if someone's Well, let's say, I don't know, someone's taller, you know, by, let's say they're 10 inches taller than you, 8 inches. Do they have an advantage when they dive in because they're longer? Yeah. Like if they get more of a jump?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: Especially if their legs are longer, because they can push off farther, and also when you're swimming, You can have, if you're taller and your arms are longer, you can have a greater pull.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: And just, like, reach forward more to pull more water and go faster.

[John Petrella]: Okay. And you have a team that you swim with, a bunch of kids. And, you know, you're all competing against each other. You're on the same team, right?

[John Petrella]: But yet, how does that work out? You're all on the same team. but yet you're going in to compete against them.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So my friends help me to like push myself farther and improve my time.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: Like even though we're racing against each other, we're still on the same team and we want to do as best as we can. So we just try to go faster than the other. Okay. It really helps us.

[John Petrella]: And you all, all your friends that are on the swim team, you all accept, you know, like I'm getting in the pool next to you, and you're my good buddy, and you're gonna try and, obviously, you're gonna try and beat me, right? And there's, you know, so you guys all accept that, still be, stay friends, no problems, because that's what it's all about, right? How many, I don't even know, how many kids are on the swim team? You got a good group?

[John Petrella]: What, oh, 275. How many competed at these events, the national events? It's gotta be really a lot of kids.

[John Petrella]: So, I should have asked this earlier. What did it take for you to get where you got? You had, I mean, how many races? You had to swim against, you had to go to a lot of different meets, I take it? Yeah.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So there's different, like, invitational meets that you can go to. And if you, there's a certain time that you have to beat to qualify. And if you do, you can go. But if you don't, you can't.

[John Petrella]: Okay, so you're qualified, obviously, and then you go to your next meet, and does it get tougher as you go? I mean, does anything change? No?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: No. It's pretty much the same thing. The only thing that changes is the amount of people that go to the meet.

[John Petrella]: Okay. And, you know, I gotta give some credit to your parents here. obviously they have to invest, I'm not saying, you know, but they have to be involved, right? What do they do for you? They have to help out a lot, actually, right? Yeah.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: But our pool also has like touch pads and plungers for that, so she's like the third string, the third thing to rely on.

[John Petrella]: And who gets you back and forth to all these meets and everywhere you go? Someone has to travel with you.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: They drive me back and forth from practice for meets. They both go to all my meets.

[John Petrella]: So they made the commitment with you, yeah. And do you, your meets, like, I know you go to school, so, and I know, I guess, is it during the day, like after school, before school, do you have to go, you know, stay late or go earlier as far as getting in your swimming?

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: So the practices are in the evening, usually like around seven or eight.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: And then the meets are, the times can differ, but they're rarely at like night. It's mostly in the morning or like early afternoon.

[John Petrella]: Okay. So you got great parents too. Let's just say it, all right? They're great parents because they do all this. And that's a good thing. It's nice, you know? You're getting here and there and everywhere. I could talk to you for like another, you got a couple of more hours or no? No? All right, listen. What's going on with you as far as, let's take it like the near future, and then, you know, any plans you have for the future, especially in the sport of swimming.

You know, what's going on with Liam? Any more meets coming up? I know you're working hard, you're practicing and all that, but what's, What's going on in your mind? What do you think about? Where do you wanna be? Couple years, 10 years, I don't know.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: I wanna break some of the team records and league records. And I also wanna break some of the high school records.

[-Ad9b17iUII_SPEAKER_03]: And I could get into a good college for swimming. Sounds good. Do good there. just and I could just do really good in some national competitions.

[John Petrella]: Oh, we know you can do good in nationals. There's no doubt about that. I mean, this is really that that's something else. I'm going to ask you this. I mean, and I know how difficult not because I've done it, but I know what it's like. Certain people that have, you know, made the professional teams and Olympics. Are your goals to get there someday? Are you really going to try and do that? Because that is incredible. Obviously you have the talent, you know, at a very young age, which is, I mean it's just unheard of to know that I live in the same city with someone like you with all these medals. If I come over to the house can I borrow a couple of rings some night just to, you know, if I want to go out and show off to somebody?

No huh? Not a chance. And I don't blame you, you earned them. But it's been, unfortunately, it's that time. We gotta say goodbye. But really, Liam, I wanna thank you. This was a fun show. It was good talking with you. You know, a Medford Gold Medalist. That's something else. So, thank you for joining us. I wish you... really continued success in your swimming career the best to you your parents and I think you're really gonna Go places. I can see it in your future. So thank you For joining us. I really we really appreciate having you on method happenings Thank you so much. And I think it's nice for people in the city to know that we You know, we have athletes like you doing a great job and all the work you put in. So hopefully continued success. Thank you so much. Um, I also now want to take a minute to thank everyone who has been watching the show, and thank you for your feedback. And if you would like to appear on the show, you can contact us at methodhappenings02155 at gmail.com, and you will be able to watch replays of this program on Method Community Media Access Channel. Also, check out our website, methodhappenings.com, where you can now either listen or view a podcast of this program. And you can find all of our shows on YouTube. That's right, Liam, you're going to be on YouTube with us. Just go to YouTube.com and search for Method Happenings. Please like and subscribe to our channel and videos. And you can also find us on Facebook at Method Happenings. And we also have our own subreddit, which you can find us at reddit.com slash R slash Method Happenings. For the Method Happenings team, Paul, Bruce, Marco, James, I'm John Petrella. And remember Method, stay informed. Thank you, Liam.

John Petrella total time: 18.04 minutes total words: 2675