Plainsboro now has its own hometown Olympic gold medalist. High School North graduate and former township resident Rebecca Soni not only claimed the gold medal with an upset of Australia’s Leisel Jones in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Olympics in Beijing on August 14, she broke the world record in the event with a time of 2:20.22.##M:[more]##
She went head-to-head with Jones until the end, where she pulled out a strong lead in the finish. The previous record of 2:20.54 was set by Jones more than two years ago.
All together, Soni capped off a successful run in the Olympics with three medals. In addition to the gold medal, she also took home two silver medals, one in the 100-meter breaststroke (won by Jones in a world record time), and the other as part of the women’s 4×100 medley relay.
David Zhuang. Soni was not the only WW-P athlete to head to Beijing for the Olympics this year. West Windsor resident David Zhuang also competed in the men’s table tennis competition.
A five-time U.S. national men’s single champion, and eight-time national men’s double champion, Zhuang was the only male from the United States to qualify for the international competition. Only three men from North America made it to the Olympics. This was his third appearance at the Olympics. His first came in 1996 in Atlanta, and then in Sydney in 2000.
Unfortunately, his third time did not prove to be a charm, as Zhuang fell to Nigeria’s Segun Toriola in the first day of singles on August 19. He won the first set, but lost a seven-set competition by four games to three, despite having won three of the first five games.
Zhuang was born and lived in China until he was 27, moved to West Windsor in 2001 and lives with his wife and two daughters on Perrine Path.
