Julien Fang has been a part of a lot of success with the High School South boys swimming team, but nothing like this season.
As a freshman, he was named Most Valuable Player for the Pirates as they went 12-2 and reached the Group A state semifinals. It was the same record and semifinal berth the next year. And last year, South was 8-2 and reached the A final.
This year, though, has topped them all.
“It’s definitely the best team I’ve had,” Fang said. “And I’ll say the most fun experience I had for the past four years.”
Fang is just one part of a significant senior class that has grown in depth and performance to key a great start to the winter. For the first time since 2017 when the Pirates won the B championship and reached the state semifinals in a 15-1 season, they went unbeaten in the Colonial Valley Conference, dismantling traditional challengers High School North, 111-59, and Princeton High, 113-57, after losing to Princeton by two points last season. Robbinsville High was the only team to stay within 25 points of them.
“It’s definitely very big,” Fang said. “I think the first practice, the guys actually set a goal saying that we want to go undefeated this year and I think everyone believed in it and then we did it. So it’s definitely a very big moment for us.”
They won their Pirate Invitational as well, and positioned themselves to win their first CVC Championship since 2017. States is the next goal beyond it, and the final chance for Fang to compete with a tight-knit group from the Class of 2026.
“We have a super talented group of senior boys,” said Pirates coach Jessica Bidwell, explaining, “They’re all talented in different events which is part of why South has been so successful this season is that they don’t really swim the same thing so I have seniors across the board and talent spread out that’s really benefiting the team.”
The seniors have been the driving force behind this year’s success. Vikram Pal, Allen Sahraoui, Daksh Yadav, Erick Yan and Eric Zou have helped South win along with passing along to the younger Pirate swimmers the team-first culture that has been so important to the program. It was something that Fang learned to embrace as a newcomer. He was a stellar year-round swimmer for the Princeton Tigers Aquatic Club when he joined the South team.
“In the beginning, freshman and sophomore year, it’s definitely pretty challenging because coming to high school we’re expecting to swim what we’re best at,” Fang said. “But changing that mindset to just doing what I can for the team and just helping us to win as a team, I think that the change of the mindset is there. And now I’m just happy that I can do whatever I can for the team to win. And I always want to be well-rounded swimmer – IM and free – so I’m happy that can help the team win.”
Adding to the challenge their first year at South was that the famed “Bubble” where they host meets and practice was not available due to construction. They had to practice at High School North. The next year, being at South was then something new. The coaches have watched them overcome the non-traditional start to develop and find where they impact best – Pal in individual medley and butterfly, Yadav embracing the 200 free after disliking it years ago, Yan turning his focus from club swimming to only the high school team and leading in backstroke.
“They’re ever evolving,” Bidwell said. “We don’t like to look at the future because obviously we’re graduating some super talent, but we do have some talented freshmen that came in this year. So it’s just kind of watching the cycle of growth.”
Like his teammates, Fang has been willing to help wherever needed. For the past few years, the Pirates had another strong breaststroker, Carmel Meir, and that allowed South to use Fang elsewhere. This year, he’s largely been back in breaststroke, his top stroke, along with usually a sprint freestyle and a pair of relays.
“He’s not a captain, he doesn’t see himself that way, which is interesting because he definitely takes on that role,” Bidwell said. “A lot of the underclassmen really look up to him. And the thing about Julien was last year we also had a super talented breaststroker, but he was a senior and he graduated, and so in some meets we didn’t want to swim them in the same event. And Julien is talented in sprint freestyle events and stuff, so we’re able to kind of move him around where we need him, just kind of embracing what Pirate swimming is about.”
Like many programs, South has club swimmers like Fang. The Pirates make sure that they’re not just seen on meet days. They have a mandatory minimum of practices to attend, and their presence in practice helps them connect better with the team and develop bonds.
“The seniors really emphasize team culture, just being a team,” Fang said. “It’s about the team dynamic and really about us, not just ourselves. So just everyone working together, like being in a team, I think we emphasize that a lot too.”
Fang feels compelled to help his younger teammates as one of the more experienced, faster swimmers. He falls back to his first-year experience on the team when he thinks about how he was immersed in that culture. It helped to keep him connected to the team and want to continue being a part of the program.
“The year where I came in as a freshman, the seniors and juniors – the upperclassmen – were very energetic and the coaches had built a good team dynamic already,” he said. “So it was pretty easy for me to just come in and then compete for the team and just doing all activities with them. And I’ll say I got really lucky that I’m on such a good team with such good teammates and coaches.”
Now he’s part of the oldest class that is setting the tone and the goals for the team. Last year’s narrow loss to Princeton left them with something to fight for coming back in their final year. That was one of their starting goals in a season with some lofty expectations.
“You always kind of want to be a little bit better, so they were able to accomplish that goal and we just keep working towards them,” Bidwell said. “CVCs is like the next thing and placing, they have goals. A couple kids are still trying to make Meet of Champs cuts, where we’re going to end. They had a successful Pirate, the boys won the Pirate invitational again, so they’re kind of slowly checking off the boxes, but we keep reminding them our season’s far from over. They still have work to do. But collectively as a team, if they continue to share within those goals and those upperclassmen really try to kind of bring everybody with them, they do have the talent and the passion to be successful.”
Finishing his South career strong is a big focus for Fang, but he does find time to enjoy some of his other passions. He’s a movie buff, gravitating toward movies from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He’s part of the vinyl comeback and recently received a turntable. And he loves to go camping and enjoy the outdoors when he’s not inside swimming.
Swimming won’t end when his Pirate career does. He’s planning to swim in college, and when he’s in college and eligible, he hopes to represent his native Taiwan in the World University Games, most likely in the 100 or 200 breaststroke.
“I’m just trying to work myself up to that level and hopefully I can make it in the four years of college in that window,” Fang said. “I would say I’m not too far away, but I’m definitely not close. So it’s just keep working hard and trying to make it.”
Those goals will have to wait for him to help the Pirates accomplish theirs first. It’s been a promising start and some of the biggest meets are still to come. For a motivated, connected senior group, winning some of those would be a perfect ending.
“The journey has been good,” Fang said. “I learned a lot of things and still facing new problems every day and just tackling those with my teammates and really be able to work together as a team. I think just learning together every day, I think that’s been a pretty big thing for me.”
High School South swimmer Julien Fang helped the team win its first Colonial Valley Conference Championship since 2017.,
The WW-P High School South swimming team went unbeaten in the Colonial Valley Conference.
