Daily Journal Girls’ Co-Swimmers of the Year: Woodside’s Audrey Chung and Edana Huang

Audrey Chung and Edana Huang have been the face of Woodside girls’ swimming for the last four years. Chung, a sprinter, and Huang, an all-around swimmer who specializes in the butterfly, are the perfect complement to each other. So much so that they will share the Daily Journal’s Girls’ Swimmers of the Year honor.

Count Woodside head swim coach Stephanie Couch as one who is grateful for the decision.

“I hate picking between them,” Couch said. “Because honestly, they’re both different.”

But also the same. Both dominated at the Peninsula Athletic League championships in their individual races, both posted times at the Central Coast Section championships that advanced them to the CIF State Swimming and Diving Championships, where they both swam in an “A” final individually.

But maybe more importantly, the duo combined with two others to win PAL titles in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay, qualifying to the CCS and state meets for the first time in school history.

“We’ve never had girls that not only did well individually, but our relays had never got to the state meet before,” said Couch, who has been coaching at Woodside for the last decade.

It certainly helps that both Chung an Huang are elite swimmers, with both planning to compete collegiately at the Division I level — Chung at Brown University and Huang at UC San Diego.

But being a Division I college athletes doesn’t come without sacrifices at the high school level and Couch said both have carried themselves as DI athletes for several years.

“Winning is super fun. Yes, that’s the goal. But I think the goal is to really see how to improve your training so you can go faster. It’s a process,” Couch said. “To have the determination, to have the passion for the sport, you’re not doing certain things. You’re giving up a lot to become the best swimmer you can be. There is so much more to it than just getting a faster time. … There is so much that goes into an elite athlete.”

For Chung, it’s her second Daily Journal Girls’ Swimmer of the Year honor, garnering it by herself last year. While she did not enjoy as much postseason success that she had in 2023, this year saw her compete in nearly every meet for Woodside.

Which was a far cry from last season, when Chung had to shut down her training late in the season because of a shoulder injury, which caused her to miss the PAL championships.

That absence cost Chung a chance to be a four-time PAL champion in the 50 and 100 freestyle sprints. Instead, she’ll have to settle for double gold in three of four years as she moved back to the top of the podium this year in her signature events. She won the 50 free in a time of 23.88 and added the 100 double in a time of 51.69 — rather pedestrian times for Chung.

“I felt pretty confident. There wasn’t too much pressure on at PALs,” Chung said. “Since we didn’t fully taper, my goal was to just win both events and have fun with my teammates.”

Chung then teamed with Huang, Celia VanDeWyer and Kate Stevenson to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 2:49.95. In the 200 free, Margot Legros replaced VanDeWyer as the Wildcats quartet won with a time of 1:40.83.

Huang, meanwhile, was dealing with a shoulder injury of her own for most of the high school campaign, but it did not stop her from swimming. Once it was determined she could not do any more damage, it became a matter of pain tolerance.

“She was injured for most of this season,” said Couch, adding it was a matter of wear and tear, as opposed to an actual injury. “I think it gave her confidence that she didn’t permanently damage it and she could swim. They just said, ‘Go for it.” I think it made her feel better.”

It didn’t seem to slow Huang, but it did put pressure on her to have strong swims at the PAL championships, because she was unable to put up CCS qualifying times during the regular season.

Huang took care of business in style, however, as she won the PAL title in the 500 free with a time of 5:02.69 and set a new PAL record in the 100 fly, her signature event, with a time of 55.11.

“I have a rule at Woodside, every senior has to swim the 500 free (at some point during the season),” Couch said. “I don’t think it’s an event they think of swimming. Then they swim these incredible times and they think, ‘Huh.’”

That qualified Chung and Huang in four events each at the CCS championship — two individual and two relays. Chung couldn’t duplicate her feat from last year when she won CCS titles in both the 50 and 100 free. Instead, she settled for third in the 50 free (23.46) and fourth in the 100 free (51.64), qualifying for the state meet in both races.

Meanwhile, Huang finished third in the 100 fly at CCS with a time of 54.71 to qualify for state and was seventh in the 500 free. The 200 medley relay also made it to state following a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:48.79.

At the CIF State Meet, both found themselves swimming in “A” finals — with Chung finishing seventh in the 50 free with a personal record of 23.21, which is also a new PAL record, eclipsing the 23.59 she swam last year. Chung also swam in the 100 free “B” final, finishing 12th in the state in a time of 50.86.

Huang also set a new PR and PAL record as she finished sixth in the 100 fly in a time of 54.17. Huang broke the PAL record twice in three swims.

“I would say I was pretty satisfied at the end of the school season. At the state meet, I got my best time in the 50 free,” Chung said. “This was my last year … I was trying to get best times, but also have fun with my teammates. … Overall, I was really happy to be on a high school team like Woodside. … I was really grateful to meet all the people I met.

“Just proud of the team, as a whole.”