By Ryan Spoehr
SLN STAFF
Whippet swimmer Young Liang took his spot on the podium twice this year at the WIAA Boys Swimming Championships.
Liang, a freshman, was fifth in the 200 yard individual medley and third in the 100 yard breaststroke.
“There’s a lot of fast people in our state, especially this year. There was a national high school record holder. He broke the national breaststroke record,” Liang said. “It’s kind of an honor to swim next to them.”
In 100 breaststroke, Liang was undefeated until state. He was undefeated in 200 individual medley until sectionals.
Kayla Martin is the boys swimming coach at the high school. She also coached Liang in youth swimming.
“It was so exciting,” Martin said. “Young is such an easy swimmer to coach. He’s going to work hard no matter what. So, just to see all that hard work pay off – all the morning practices, all the Saturday practices – it was exciting to see both of his goals met.”
Next, he will swim on a bigger stage. He is set to go to the national competition during the second week in March in Florida.
“There are national cuts you can make. So, I aimed to get that 100 yard breaststroke cut,” Liang said. “And, for the 200, I just wanted to swim fast and get out in front.”
Liang consistently practiced for an hour every morning and two hours in the afternoon up until his performance at state.
For more on Liang’s trip to state, pick up the March 1 edition of the Whitewater Register.
