FORT GIBSON’S MICHAEL MARTINEZ – MAKING WAVES IN THE WATER
By Michael Bray
Fort Gibson’s Michael Martinez has been swimming since his freshman year. His list of accolades are numerous.
A 3-year state qualifier for varsity swim, 2-year state placer, 2023-Outstanding rookie of the year, most dedicated swimmer in 2024 & 2025. The list goes on. He has accumulated numerous top five finishes at the state swim meets including finishing 5th in the 200 medley relay & 6th in the 400 free relay, in 2025. In 2024 he was 5th in the 200-medley relay and was a regional champion for the varsity.
“My favorite moment that I’ve experienced so far in my swimming career was being the only freshman my freshman year to qualify for state,” he said. “What makes me myself is even though faced with adversity I always know how to bounce back and my drive for swimming is beating my personal bests at every meet and to break the 100 fly record at my school.”
You could call him the Michael Phelps of the Tigers as that is who he looks at as his guide.
“My role model is Michael Phelps because even though all the adversity he was faced with during his races at the Olympics he always had a positive attitude,” he said. “No matter how he felt that day he always gave it everything he had. I thrive to be like that and to face those problems head on and crush them.”
The biggest thing that inspires Martinez in swimming is that an individual’s detail will always matter in a race. “If you don’t have those details you are already losing,” he said.
Outside of the pool Michael competes for the Tigers as a Forward/Striker in soccer. While at home he enjoys his favorite food, Italian wraps made by his mom and watching the SAW movies.
“One thing I would like to be known for in my sports and life is my positive attitude because even though practices and life gets hard I’m always there to support and bring up myself and others,” added Martinez.
There have been some speed bumps across the way, however.
“Some challenges I’ve been faced with are being sick, getting in my head, and not beating a personal best,” He said.
Pushing even harder when sick was one of the ways he was able to overcome. The other?
“To get out of my head, I told myself before every race that I was gonna go out there and give it everything I’ve got and that I can do it no matter how hard it is,” he said. “Not beating a personal best is a great challenge and how I overcame that was putting in more work to improve my strokes and improve my underwaters off each wall and to beat the guy next to me.”
In the future he wants to work towards a psychology degree in college and pursue his love for soccer.
But here in the now he has one focus.
