Sophomore Haoxi Wang, has started his second year on the Malden High School swim team. Wang has been swimming since the age of six; practicing and competing in the stroke freestyle.
Wang as a child was introduced into the sport by his family. Before getting to know the sport, he wasn’t as interested, but later on, explained that “after a year or two of being forced into swim lessons [he] decided it would be fun to join the local swim team that was available at the YMCA. Ever since [he] made that decision was made to join, [he] stuck with swimming from then up until now.” Wang included that he loves the competition aspect that comes with the sport and the feeling of improving with every practice.
Wang described that everyone on the has a good chemistry, explaining that “the people that are on the team...make the sport so much more fun. The team aspect really makes [him] feel like they’re my other family”. With this, he also explained how everyone on the team is looking forward to the remainder of the season.
Some of Wang’s strengths as a swimmer, are freestyle sprinting, specifically the 50 yard and 100 yard. Anchoring both the 200 yard medley & free relays at states last year, he holds the current record for the 200 yards medley relay.
Moreover, he revealed that as an athlete this season he plans to reach a personal record “on the 50 & 100 yard free”. As a student Wang aims to “to build more relationships with both teachers and students"
Wang claimed that he does, in fact, have areas of improvement, stating that, “[he] [needs] to improve on some specific stroke techniques that will hopefully allow [him] to swim faster and shave off more time”. Furthermore, he mentioned that the team “lost quite a bit of swimmers last season, but [they] also have a high turnout of new swimmers this year. [The team] [needs] to improve teamwork wise, getting to know the new swimmers more and bond as a team with everyone new and returning swimmers.”
Although he is excited about the new league (N.E.C) he also expressed feeling nervous for the future competitions and meets. However, he stated that he believes he is ready “with the practice here at the high school and at [his] club swim team [he] [thinks] that [he] [is] well equipped for the remainder of the season.”
