Kelsey Zhang doesn’t usually get too excited after winning a swimming race. After all, the Saratoga High School senior has notched hundreds of first-place finishes since she started swimming competitively at age 5.
However, when Zhang won the girls 100-yard butterfly in the CIF State Championships at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex on May 16, she splashed the water in jubilation. Not only had Zhang taken first in the race, but she did so in a state-meet record time of 51.83 seconds. Considering that California boasts arguably the nation’s richest prep swimming talent, Zhang’s accomplishment spoke volumes.
Zhang hadn’t gone sub 52-seconds all year, so she had reason to be excited. Initially, Zhang didn’t realize she had broken the state record.
“I didn’t hear (the announcer) because my ears were filled with water,” she said. “But then I saw the time and was excited for that of course. Going in I wanted to get as close to the record as I could, but I didn’t expect to break it.”
Earlier in the day, Zhang captured the first of her two individual race wins, besting the field in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:58.07. Zhang’s sterling state meet performance—her first time competing in the event since her freshman year—was a redemption of sorts. After winning the 100 butterfly as a freshman, Zhang didn’t compete at State in her sophomore and junior year.
A couple of circumstances went into her decision, making this year’s performance all the more emotional.
“Going to State this year and finishing it off with a bang was really fun,” she said.
Signed to swim at the University of California, Berkeley (a.k.a. Cal Golden Bears), Zhang is one of the area’s top national recruits for any sport. By her sophomore year, Zhang was ranked fifth in the class of 2026 according to SwimSwam. Just to put that in perspective, it’s extremely rare to have an area prep athlete ranked in the top five nationally in any sport.
Outside of high school swimming, Zhang competes for the powerhouse Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics club and the USA national junior team. Her personal-best time of 1:53.51 in the 200 butterfly is 3.5 seconds faster than last year’s NCAA qualifying time.
Fast beginnings
For as long as Zhang can remember, she’s loved the water. Her parents, Louie and Maggie, put her in a pool at 2 years old and it wasn’t too long before Zhang was swimming laps—and fast.
“I was already taking lessons at 2 or 3 and started competitive swimming at age 5,” she said.
Despite her love for the pool, other sports competed for Zhang’s time. Growing up, she also competed in soccer, gymnastics and dance. By age 8, Zhang started dropping all of those sports to concentrate on swimming.
“One coach had said I could be a top swimmer for 8-and-unders,” she said. “That’s when my dad really started putting me in more swimming activities and more practices.”
A former soccer coach, Louie is in the process of becoming a certified swimming coach to support his daughter in her endeavors. Kelsey counts Louie as her biggest fan, a surefire help and support.
“Even at State, I would see him and that would give me comfort in an unfamiliar environment,” she said. “It’s just a privilege to be at a meet and have a familiar face in the stands always cheering for you. My dad always shows up at meets and practices and gives me feedback. I think I love the sport so much because he’s always been there to support me.”
Zhang acknowledges her dad was strict in her earlier days in the sport, which proved to be a benefit. Zhang developed discipline, mental toughness and an indefatiguable work ethic, core traits athletes need if they expect to reach the elite level. After the foundation was set, Louie took a step back.
“My dad has kind of loosened up so I can take charge of my own career,” she said.
Zhang trains seven days a week, spending 20-plus hours in the water and another handful of hours outside the pool doing core work and flexibility drills. Her work ethic aside, Zhang has also been blessed with a body made to glide through the water.
“I’m not tall, 5-foot-3,” she said. “My build is a long torso but short legs. So there are a lot of situations I might get out-touched at the finish. But I do have some advantages in that it’s easy to get my body through the water and on the turns. It’s really good to be light, and I have really short arms, so for the fly it’s really nice I can get a wide catch (gliding through the water).”
Not surprisingly, Zhang is highly motivated, both in the pool and in the classroom.
“I’m a very competitive person and even in the last couple of months of senior year, I don’t like slipping off, especially education-wise,” she said.
Overcoming adversity
For all of her success, Zhang knows her path to Cal has been anything but routine or easy. During the Covid lockdown phase, Zhang struggled with motivation.
“During Covid, there was always that moment when you wanted to quit,” she said. “I was really struggling trying to work out on land (because pools were off limits).”
Zhang credited Carlene Takaki—a former assistant coach at Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics—for reviving her interest in the sport.
“I fell in love with the sport again and got really fast,” said Zhang, who credits her current coach, Dana Kirk, for being a tremendous influence in the sport. “I think loving a sport and having fun is what makes you happiest.”
The mental aspect of a sport such as swimming—where the monotony of completing hundreds of laps in a single workout can sap an athlete’s drive—often differentiates the elite from the merely good. For Zhang, the last year has been a particularly challenging one from a mental standpoint. Last summer Zhang got food poisoning before an important meet, resulting in a subpar performance.
“It started a domino effect which really hurt my confidence,” she said. “I tried to process everything by myself which led me to fail at a meet with the USA International team and another championship meet in the winter time. Even at State, I had that anxiety and was so nervous going into the finals. I was kind of freaked out even though I had a race plan. I still had that lack of confidence.”
However, Zhang didn’t let her nerves get the best of her this time. In the ready room—the space where the swimmers gather before they head out to the pool for the race—Zhang repeated this simple yet effective mantra: “I’m excited, you’ve got this.” Once the races started, Zhang swam like one of the nation’s best, her two individual state event victories signifying she’s back on the ascent.
For the last six months, Zhang has worked with a sports therapist to help her regulate her anxiety and nerves at meets.
“I definitely wouldn’t be here mentally if it wasn’t for her,” Zhang said. “She’s helped me so much in the past half year. I’ve been struggling mentally for quite some time, so going to talk to someone really helps. Self-talk is really important to me. When I become nervous, that tends to become my reflex, and my body gets tense and weak. But ever since I started seeking help, I’ve realized if I constantly tell myself, I’m excited, and you’ve got this, your body remembers that. Swimming is super mental, especially since you’re in your own lane. Ultimately, you’re by yourself.”
Having experienced firsthand the tremendous benefit of reinforcing the mind and body with positive self-talk, Zhang has decided to study psychology at Cal.
“I want to learn everything about how the brain works in different situations, especially for swimming being that it is such a mental sport,” she said. “I want to utilize that knowledge and put that into my swimming career, but I also want to give back and provide that advice to others knowing how much it helped me get through this hard time.”
