State championships take sacrifice.
Some sacrifices are tougher than others.
For Megan Wang, every morning practice was a five-alarm sigher.
“I cannot wake up that early,” admitted the Newbury Park High senior swimmer.
According to her training schedule, Wang would set a quintet of predawn alarms a couple times a week. When they’d eventually arrive in succession, she would snooze them sequentially.
“Eventually, they’d wake my mom up,” Wang said. “She’d have to walk to my door and tell me, ‘Megan, get up!’ ”
After all, it takes a village to forge a champion.
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without her,” Wang said with a laugh.
Eventually, Wang would drive herself to practice — usually on an empty stomach — and put in the mileage needed that would enable her to become Newbury Park’s first state swimming champion.
Wang won the CIF-State championship in the girls 100-yard backstroke on May 16 in 52.27 seconds at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex.
The UC San Diego commit dropped more than half a second off her personal best of 52.86, earned just a week prior in defending her CIF-Southern Section Division 2 title in the event.
“It was very empowering,” said Wang, who has been named The Star’s Girls Swimmer of the Year for the second straight spring. “I used to have a lot of issues with confidence. Actually winning state made me realize I can do whatever I put my mind to.”
She is the second county swimmer to win the girls 100 back, joining Ventura’s Tea Laughlin in 2017. CIF-State swim competition began in 2015.
“She was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish her goals,” said Newbury Park head coach Sebastian Ayala. “It’s something you don’t really see in athletes nowadays. She’s just so committed and motivated to the sport.”
Wang kicked her training up a notch two years ago, adding morning practices and weightlifting to a regime of six practices a week.
“I still struggle with waking up and going to morning practices,” Wang said. “It’s something you just have to do. Soon enough it becomes routine and you’ll see the results.”
The added training helped her complete a slow climb to a state title.
Wang reached the state meet as a freshman, finishing 25th in 56.87. She qualified for state as a sophomore, finishing sixth in 55.31. As a junior, she was the runner-up, finishing behind Teagan O’Dell of Santa Margarita Catholic in a personal-best 53.62.
Ayala had supreme confidence that Wang would finish the climb as a senior.
“There wasn’t a single bit of doubt in my mind that she was going to be able to do it,” Ayala said. “This was her moment. I didn’t think there was going to be anybody there to stop her.”
Outswimming the field by nearly two seconds, Wang and Daniela Linares Danzos of San Ramon Valley went head to head for the entire 100 meters.
Wang prevailed by a margin of 0.33 seconds.
“It was so cool to see the way she went about it,” Ayala said. “She’s locked in on her race. She’s a different type of athlete.”
Looking back at a childhood full of commitments and hard work, Wang is satisfied.
“It was totally worth it,” Wang said. “It helps me manage my time a little better. Even outside with the pool, it showed me that I was faster and stronger, it showed me how to handle my emotions in a different way and not lash out more. … It really helped me prepare for college, too.”
Wang’s athletic journey started very young. She remembers trying basketball and cheerleading.
“I couldn’t do the splits,” Wang said, “so I cried and decided I needed to do something else.”
She initially got in the pool at 6 years old because her sister Jenny joined some friends who were swimming with the Pleasant Valley Swim Team.
“I guess I just liked going,” Wang said. “There were definitely times when I didn’t want to go to practice, but … what else was I going to do? This is something fun.”
As she developed, she swam for Pleasant Valley, Buenaventura Swim Club and eventually CLASS Aquatics.
Newbury Park had a pair of individual female state champions in Wang and wrestler Madison Black.
“It was a competitive senior class,” Wang said.
The pair of state champions even shared a classroom in AP Government, bonding over the shared commitment to their sports.
“It was very nice talking with Madi,” Wang said. “She just gets me. I understand all the work we put in. She’s just a funny girl. I obviously have a lot of fun with her.”
Before she starts her collegiate career, Wang is spending time this summer visiting family in China.
But that doesn’t mean the work stops. She’s found a 50-meter recreational pool to continue her training among the elder locals.
“I’m making due with what I have here,” Wang said. “I’m not trying to start over.”
The Star’s All-County Girls Swimming Second Team
Joe Curley is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Megan Wang repeats as The Star’s Girls Swimmer of the Year
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Joe Curley, Ventura County Star | USA TODAY Network
