Ian Man Wong has made a name for herself as a student and an athlete at San Diego Mesa College. Wong just recently received the Superstar award, which is awarded to student athletes who display involvement in campus activities, team spirit, leadership, and community service. On top of that, Wong also was awarded the Female National Scholar Athlete award by the National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCCA) This will be the first time that a student from San Diego Mesa College will be receiving the award. Wong will be honored with this award at the National Athletic Directors Convention this June in Orlando, Florida.
Throughout her two years here at Mesa, Wong has maintained a GPA of 3.9 all while committing selflessly to ample amounts of community service. Wong volunteers for multiple San Diego based charities; including, San Diego River Foundation, Our Daily Bread, AIDS Walk, just to name a few. Wong explained how she manages all these time commitments;
“I do all the leadership roles during the fall semester, and spring I focus on swimming and school.”
Of all the charity work Wong does, she explained her favorite is the work she does for the San Diego River Foundation. They sponsor a Coastal Habitat Restoration in which Wong participates. During the clean up, Wong was not only picking up garbage, but also assisting in the removal of invasive species and other influences detrimental to our local environment. Through this she also learned about why they were doing the things they were doing, and how directly their help will positively influence the environment.
Wong is currently finishing up at Mesa and plans to transfer to UC Berkeley next semester where she will major in Media Studies. Wong has no plans to compete for the UC Berkeley Swimming Team but is interested in practicing with them.
“I am trying to contact the coach to see if I can practice with them to be a better swimmer.”
Wong grew up in Macau, China and moved to San Diego about two and a half years ago. She started swimming when she was 10 years old and has had a passion for it even since.
More recently she has found a new source of motivation in her current Coach, Jim Fegan. Wong described Fegan as “the best coach I have ever had.” Under Fegan, Wong has found much success in and out of the pool. Wong competed in the State Tournament at East Los Angeles College. In the 200 Breaststroke Wong placed 7th and in the 100 Breaststroke she placed 9th.
