Star swimmer Chris Leung leads Northwood to meet title; sets sights on memorable CIF finish

Northwood’s Chris Leung competes in the breaststroke during a league meet this season. (Photos courtesy Aexei Tolkachev)

Northwood High School senior Chris Leung,  who has established himself as one of the elite swimmers in Orange County, is is determined to make it a fantastic ending to his high school career.

Leung, who has been the Timberwolves captain the past two years, is off to a great start after leading Northwood’s boys team to the championship at the Mt. SAC Spring of Champions Meet Saturday. Northwood took first place with 713 1/2 points ahead of second place Clovis North with 561 points.

Leung, who has signed a national letter to attend and compete in swimming at Northwestern University, finished first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.36. He bettered his time of 55.70 in the prelims, which was the best time recorded in the county in that event as of Friday, April 14, according to OC Varsity.

“I also swam in the 200 free relay, going a 1:23.77, a pool, meet and team record,” he said Saturday. “I led off the relay with a 20.65 which is a personal best and a team record for the 50 free.”

The winning relay team also included Ryan Xu, Elson Lee and Will Chen.

Leung also swam on the first place 400 free relay with Derek Hitchens, Elson Lee and Andrew Maksymowaski. The group swam a time of 3:04.40 and broke the meet and pool record, Leung said.

He celebrated the achievements of his teammates too.

“Some other first place finishes were 200 medley relay with Derek Hitchens, Benton Chang, Ryan Xu and Will Chen with a time of 1:32.61, Elson Lee in the 200 IM with a time of 1:49.96 (best time), Derek Hitchens in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.56 (best time) and Andrew Maksymowski in 500 free with a time of 4:27.26 (best time),” he said.

To see photos, click on the first picture:

In an interview earlier this week, Leung expressed confidence that Northwood would finish the season strong.

“I have high hopes for myself as a senior knowing that the seniors last year have moved on to college, giving me opportunities to place higher in events but knowing that younger swimmers have gone faster as well,” he said.

“I have high hopes since I’ve been training well. I do have high hopes for my team as well,” he said.

Leung  swims numerous events, including the 100 breaststroke. Leung has also excelled in the 200 IM with a career best of 1:48.28. He’s also swam the 200 breaststroke, the 100 butterfly and the 50, 100, 200 and 500 freestyle events

“My personal favorite is probably the 100 breaststroke because it is less painful for me than the 200 IM but those two are my top events,” he said. “The 100 breaststroke has been one of my favorites for a long time, 50 free has started to grow on me, I’m still trying to work on that and build my speed up. I guess the 200 IM is also up there because it’s one of the only events where you get to swim all four strokes in one event.”

Leung, a four-year member of the varsity team,  was proud to be part of Northwood’s PCL boys championship run last year and he and his teammates were also happy for the girls team, which captured the crown as well.

“Last year our team had a sweep of both Northwood boys and girls varsity winning (league) and it was the first time for the girls ever winning league, so it was a huge accomplishment for our team overall and being able to celebrate that with them was a lot of fun,” he said.

Leung said being able to finish second in the 200 IM and third in the 100 breaststroke at the CIF meet last year was memorable and is looking to improve upon those times in the league finals and CIF competition this season. He was also proud to have qualified for the state meet.

“One of my biggest goals is being able to win that 100 breaststroke event,” he said, looking ahead to the league finals, CIF prelims and finals. “I know it’s not going to be easy with a lot of fast competitors, I have to put a lot of hard work and training into it but hopefully that’s the goal to win and always touch the wall first.”

Achieving goals is important to Leung, who also competes for his club team, the Irvine Novaquatics, when the high school season is not in session.

But the friendships he’s made in the sport have been important too.

“For me, I’ve stayed on the same club team my whole life and as I grew up and started moving up to different ranks, I’ve always had friends moving up with me and when I hit a certain age, I’ve been swimming with my same friends like every day for five years, so I see my friends every day and swim next to them almost every day of the year for five years and it’s building relationships and creating great memories with them,” he said.

Among those he has met through swimming is his girlfriend.

“My friends are very important to me, helping me, pushing me during practice and cheering me to be engaged in the sport and creating a lot of good memories with them,” he said. “They’ve been a great help with my swimming career. I’ve always said that swimming would be almost impossible without having friends.”

The 5-11, 175-pound Leung  takes part in about eight practices a week totalling about 18 hours, with his Northwood teammates during the high school season.

Leung has been an integral part of Northwood’s league championship squad which has gone undefeated in dual meets.

“Chris is an incredible young man with what I foresee is a bright future,” said Northwood Coach Alex Nieto. “Super intelligent in the classroom, he is a leader on the deck amongst his peers. I for one will miss his leadership and will miss what he has meant to this team: an experienced and confident young man always willing to support his team mates in all situations. In competition, do not mistake his calm demeanor for weakness as I know him as one of the fiercest competitors of the program. 

“He currently holds the 200 IM and 50 freestyle records (at Northwood). It is very probable he will hold more if he is able to improve from his club times.”

Leung has accomplished what he has through discipline. Academics is also important to him; he’s become a Scholastic All-American with a GPA of at least 3.5 and a winter junior nationals cut with his club team, the Irvine Novaquatics.

“It’s very busy having swim taking up so much of my time, it’s definitely learning the skill of time management and being able to know what to do and when to do it and ranking the priority of certain homework tests and studying and definitely sacrificing some time with friends and not being able to go out or hang out because I have to swim and do my homework to make sure I maintain the grades,” he said.

“It’s definitely difficult throughout the years maintaining a high GPA but that’s one of the skills swimming teaches you is time management since it takes up so much time. I think that has shaped me into a good student athlete.

“Discipline is very important in swimming because there is a lot of perseverance and determination that goes into it.”

He’s also grateful for those who have helped him along the way.

“Definitely my family, my two sisters and parents pushing me, keeping me in the sport and supporting me throughout the years,” he said. “Before I could drive myself, they were driving me to every practice, even the morning practices early in the morning.”

“And the coaches I’ve had, most recently Coach Ken LaMont (at Irvine Novaquatics) is the one who I’ve been with for the last five years. He’s been coaching me very well and giving me good tips and leading me in my swimming career.

“Coach Alex has done a great job shaping me into a great leader and into a great swimmer and showing me me what it means to be a good captain on a high school team. Coach Alex has supported me throughout my career, especially my high school career.”

He’s hoping to continue to make those coaches proud in college. And down the road, he’s not ruling out competing in the Olympic Games one day.

“That would definitely be in the back of my mind, a dream of mine to compete in a prestigious event such as the Olympics and if I ever have a chance to, I definitely will. I always want to have my mind on it, but I never want to get too far ahead of myself,” he said.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com