By Keith Barnes | Tri-State Sports & News Service
March 8, 2022
The past week: Shao won two individual and two relay titles at the WPIAL Class 3A swimming finals at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Check this out: Shao, a junior, broke the longest-standing swimming record in the WPIAL when she went 53.85 seconds to win the 100-yard butterfly for the third consecutive year. The previous record of 54.16 seconds was set by Penn Hills alumna and WPIAL Hall of Famer Melanie Buddemeyer in 1984.
You’ve had time to think about the record and 38 years is a long time. I’m just glad that I had the chance to break it. Records are meant to be broken and, in the future, someone else will break it. But at that moment, I was really, really excited.
Does it surprise you how fast you can swim? My perspective on how fast I go is somewhat skewed because there are always so many people that are faster than me.
Melanie said it was surreal still getting calls at 56 about her record. Can you even imagine being that age and getting that call? That’s just impressive on her part to have that record for 38 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a record last that long. All I can say is she must have been really fast.
What does that say for you now? I just have to keep on improving.
Have you committed to college yet? I’m not supposed to say. I’ve visited Brown, Northwestern and Penn, but I’ll probably make an announcement in June or July.
How do you carry over what you did at the WPIAL finals to the state championships? I usually try to move on from this meet, actually, because I don’t want this meet to affect my next one. I won’t bring those emotions to state because it’s a whole different type of atmosphere.
What’s it going to be like going back to Bucknell rather than Cumberland Valley last year? I liked both pools, actually. Bucknell is the OG, so I’m a little more excited to go to Bucknell this year. Last year there was no audience and it was just very orderly and masked up and there wasn’t that much hype. Going back to Bucknell will be a lot more normal and I’m excited for that.
What goes through your mind when you’re standing on the blocks? Usually I try not to think of anything. I just take a deep breath, try to clear my mind and I just swim. I’ve just worked so hard for it that, if I think too hard about it, I’ll mess it up.
How do you relax? I read a lot, listen to music and I read a lot of Manga, I’ve got my go-to music and I like to draw. Sleeping is in there, too.
What are you listening to? I listen to a variety of music. I’m into K-Pop, some hype music and I listen to classical.