Huang shines for Quaker Valley and Sewickley
Isabel Huang said her favorite television show is “The Good Place.”
She has a good place of her own, a spot that provides her comfort and happiness, especially needed these days as we make our way through a once-in-a-century pandemic.
“She just seems at home in the water,” her swim coach John Nemeth said.
For Huang, there is no place like home. In her good place, she’s not just good, she’s great.
Huang is a junior at Sewickley Academy who swims for Quaker Valley. Sewickley Academy doesn’t have a team, so the 10 swimmers from the school compete with Quaker Valley through a cooperative sponsorship.
When she was little, Huang tried tennis, gymnastics, dance and diving, but swimming was sort of like her Disneyland — The Happiest Place on Earth.
“I feel like swimming connected with me most and I enjoyed it the most,” she said.
Through two seasons of high school swimming, Huang has done the most a swimmer can do at the WPIAL championships. Participants can compete in no more than two individual events, and Huang won two gold medals in both her freshman and sophomore years. That puts her on pace to tie the career record of eight that has been achieved by only two girls — Penn Hills’ Melanie Buddemeyer (1981-84) and Gateway’s Olivia Livingston (2017-20).
Huang is the two-time defending WPIAL Class 2A champion in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke. She would have been the No. 2 and No. 3 seed, respectively, in those events at last year’s PIAA championships, but just a few hours before she was supposed to hit the water, the championships were shut down because of the pandemic. Huang, nor any PIAA swimmer, competed again last season.
“She competes with the best of the best in the area,” said Nemeth, Quaker Valley’s first-year coach who also coaches with Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics. “In terms of the WPIAL, I know she has a goal to defend her titles in both events. I think for me looking at it, it’s the state meet. It’s a big year for her. I never try to put too much pressure on any swimmer, but I’m excited to see what she can do at the state level.”
Of course, the future of this season is up in the air due to the latest shutdown by Gov. Tom Wolf, which prohibits high school or youth sports from being played until Jan. 4. Quaker Valley was able to practice about 10 times, Nemeth said, adding that Huang “looked awesome in the water” during that period, which came to a sudden halt via the governor’s orders last Thursday.
“I think I’m doing pretty well or at least average where I would be during this part of a normal season,” Huang said, humbly.
Due to restrictions at area pools, Huang is doing a lot of dry land workouts these days. She works out at home, primarily focusing on cardio.
“This week, I started to do a little bit of running outside, but it’s getting kind of cold,” Huang said, laughing. “I’ve been finding workouts on YouTube and doing my own stuff in the basement.”
Added Nemeth, “Someone like Isabel, she’s committed to finding ways to get workouts in.”
That hasn’t been easy for swimmers since March, even for elite high school ones like Huang. Swimmers typically have steady routines and schedules, something that hasn’t been possible because of some pools being closed and others restricting their hours or number of people allowed in the pool. Pre-pandemic, Huang said she practiced six days a week for two hours a day. That has been reduced to three or four days a week for sometimes just an hour and a half.
Huang usually swims at the Sewickley YMCA or at Fox Chapel High School, home of her club team, the Fox Chapel Killer Whales. Huang admits that the impact of seeing pool time cut back, sometimes getting none at all, has been difficult to deal with, and not just physically.
“For the entire pandemic, it’s really had a big impact on us mentally because we don’t have a lot of time in the pool anymore,” said Huang, who carries a 4.1 GPA. “We all have the desire to get back in, but we can’t do it. So we have to make sure our mental health doesn’t go down, and we have to remain patient.”
When restrictions begin to ease up and orders fade away, Huang said she will once again focus on the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.
What makes Huang so special in the pool? Nemeth said part of it is how strong she is underwater and her overall feel for the water. Huang said she has been working a lot on her backstroke, saying that she feels as confident as ever.
All she needs now is to be able to spend more time in her good place.