Diving back into familiar waters, former Walnut High School students Colin Chuang, Madelyn Chiu and Jasper Wang return to their Mustang roots as the new swim team coaches for the 2023-2024 season.
A recent fourth new addition to the coaches team: Joan Lim, a fifth grade teacher at Vejar Elementary is joining the Walnut swim family as head coach alongside head coach Chuang. With all four of the coaches being previous swim team athletes, the coaches already have a head start when it comes to advising the team.
“I know exactly what the swimmers are going through,” Chuang said. “I know what it takes to get faster and I also know what it’s like to be lazy. I can tell when a swimmer wants to put in the work, so it’s much easier for me to be able to help those kids.”
Reflecting on her own high school experience, junior varsity coach Chiu also recognizes the work ethic and determination that swimmers must have in order to commit to their sports and other responsibilities.
“As someone that was really involved in academics and swimming in high school, I understand what they are experiencing at their age, which is trying to balance school and sports,” Chiu said.
Assistant coach Wang himself is no stranger to a balanced schedule; he currently attends Mt. San Antonio College and University of California Irvine, so efficiently balancing college and coaching is something he has to take into consideration on the daily.
“When it comes to coaching and being in school at the same time, it’s all about time management,” Wang said. “As long as you communicate with one another about practice times and stuff like that, then I think things will run pretty smoothly.”
Chuang, who attends Cal Poly Pomona, has ambitions for himself on both an academic and athletic level that he hopes to bring to fruition as a student and a coach.
“What I want to get out of this is that I want to start my own swim club one day,” Chuang said. “It can get tough, but I think if I push through, in the end it’ll be worth it.”
The coaches also have specific goals for the team at Walnut. Whether that be through enforced weight exercises and plyometric training or bonding events that boost team morale, the coaches actively look to prioritize their swimmers’ physical and mental strength.
“I mainly want to create a fun experience for the swimmers. I had so much fun when I was in high school swim, so hopefully I can do the same for them,” Chiu said. “I want to use my knowledge as a former student athlete to improve our swimmers’ physical and mental well-being.”
On top of that, Chuang wants to deliver the same fun, competitive spirit to the swim team that he was exposed to when he was still a student at Walnut High School.
“I was a swimmer for around 12 years and I swam for Walnut for four years. The team atmosphere was amazing; our team was very fast and the coaches were also really good. I still have a passion for swimming and I want to bring that energy back,” Chuang said.
