Fox Chapel swimmers earn medals, enjoy opportunity to compete in Maccabi Games

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, August 16, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Cameryn Brindza enjoyed the learning experience that came along with participating in the Maccabi Games. The event, which was held in Pittsburgh during the first week of August, was an international competition for Jewish teenagers similar to the Olympics.

Brindza, 16, attends Fox Chapel and won six medals in swimming events.

“I was talking to the girls from Canada, and this was their first time swimming short-yard courses,” Brindza said. “It was fun to talk to people and learn about the swimming culture from where they are from (compared) to America.”

Brindza collected gold medals in the 200 back, 100 back and 400 IM. She also won silver in the 50 back, 200 fly and 200 IM. Brindza was one of three Fox Chapel swimmers to medal at the event.

Her brother, Drew, placed second in the 500 free and collected bronze medals in the 200 back and 200 IM. Matthew Lappin, 14, won a bronze medal in the 200 breaststroke.

Drew was happy with how he performed after a few weeks off at summer camp.

“I hadn’t done my club practice in a while,” Drew said. “Not getting in the pool every day, I didn’t like it at the start. I wasn’t expecting anything at all, especially after I missed a couple weeks.”

Drew said he competed in several backstroke events, which is what he does a lot of with the Killer Whales club team. However, Drew said he felt most comfortable in the 500 free.

“It’s one of my favorite races. I felt really good,” Drew said. “My pacing was good, and I wasn’t that far off from my time.”

Cameryn said she felt most comfortable in the 400 IM. She said she typically wouldn’t have had a competition this time of year and enjoyed the change of pace.

“I think it’s a good reset, as I’m usually disconnected from the people I normally race against,” Cameryn said. “I talked to more people and saw how different girls raced.”

The Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh promoted this as a first-of-its-kind event for the games. The setup this year allowed the athletes to live, eat and compete on Pitt’s campus.

The JCC felt this would help the organization remove capacity constraints that had hurt the games in recent years.

“This model offers top-notch facilities and a transformative experience for Jewish teen athletes from all over the world while enabling hundreds more to experience the magic of JCC Maccabi than has been possible in its 40-year history,” said Samantha Cohen, Senior Vice President and Director of JCC Maccabi at JCC Association of North America, in a news release.

Cameryn enjoyed the setup.

“I would definitely do it again,” she said.

Tags: Fox Chapel