By Kyle Daubs

Who would have thought Austin, Texas was similar to Taiwan?

For Angela Coe, that was the deal maker. 

“I was there for three days and everywhere, I went it reminded me of my hometown, Taiwan,” said Coe. “It felt like home to me, and it was the place I feel I could grow the most as a swimmer but also as a person. “

Coe, a junior for Charleston High School, just completed one of the greatest individual seasons an athlete from the school has ever accomplished. Coe earned two third-place medals at the IHSA state swimming championships, which included third place in the 200 individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly. Her performance was so great that she was one of three swimmers that broke the previous state mark in the 200-individual medley. 

Even before this historic finish, Coe was covered by many major schools in the nation. According to Coe, she was talking to Texas, Virginia, California Berkeley, Michigan, Florida, Louisville, Tennessee, Ohio State, South Carolina, Albania, Arizona State, and George. 

NCAA Rules state that an athlete can take five official visits, so her top five choices came down to Louisville, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, and Texas. 

Texas was Coe’s last visit and everything just felt like home. 

“At first when I got there the weather was nice and the place was beautiful,” said Coe. After spending time with the coaches and the people on the team I was just in love with the vibe and how close everyone was. I’m excited to get to continue my love for swimming on a collegiate level as well as grow my academic career 

Coe was born in Taiwan, which was a reason she joined Charleston later in the year as a sophomore  She moved to the United States in 2018 but has returned to Taiwan each summer to work on her all-around training like distance, sprints, technique, etc. Swimming since the age of four because her sister swam well, Coe has been swimming year-round since she was six years old. 

As a sophomore, Coe put herself on the map as one of the best swimmers in the state. She went a perfect 8-for-8 in school records. Most would call that a successful season, but Coe has been determined to want more, which led to her return to Taiwan.

Flash forward to the present, the Charleston High School girls swim team had their best showing ever in school history in the postseason. Out of 29 teams, the Trojans placed second overall, just missing out on their first-ever Sectional Championship. 

Coe led the charge by qualifying for the IHSA State Swimming Championships with a first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley and a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Coe set the Urbana Indoor Aquatic Center pool record with a time of 54.63. Coe won by nearly four seconds, which included a pool record time of 54.63. 

According to SwimSwam, a national swimming website, Coe will make an “immediate impact” for the Longhorns, who finished as the nation’s runner-up as a team. Coe had plenty of people to thank and she will likely start training to cap off her senior year with hopes of winning a state championship. 

I would love to thank my family, coaches, and friends that have guided me through this process and pushed me to become the best version of myself,” said Coe. “I also like to thank everyone at UT for providing me with this amazing opportunity.”

Charleston High School Swimming

Top 10 Best Times

200 Medley Relay

* 1:54.93 Mackenzie Erixon, Angela Coe,

Ava Zheng, Molly Weber- 2021

200 Freestyle

*1:56.60 Angela Coe 2021

1:58.74 Lauren Pentzien – 2013

2:05.58 Megan Swango- 2004

2:07.43 Mackenzie Erixon- 2021

2:07.74 Jasmine Coe- 2017

2:07.91 Meghan McGrady- 2001

2:09.48 Molly Weber- 2021

2:09.88 Megan Woodruff- 2015

2:10.72 Ava Zheng- 2020

2:14.11 Alyssa Pentzien-2014

200 Individual Medley

*2:01.56 Angela Coe- 2020

2:14.86 Jasmine Coe- 2017

2:19.64 Lauren Pentzien- 2013

2:20.65 Amy Swango- 1999

2:29.47 Megan Swango – 2002

2:31.20 Alyssa Pentzien- 2014

2:32.05 Devan Finley- 2006

2:32.18 Mackenzie Erixon- 2021

2:32.87 Megan Woodruff- 2015

2:32.96 Molly Weber- 2019

50 Freestyle

*23.40 Angela Coe- 2021

24.91 Lauren Pentzien – 2011

26.32 Amy Swango- 2000

26.43 Megan Swango- 2002

26.76 Jasmine Coe- 2017

27.10 Ava Zheng- 2021

27.32 Megan Woodruff- 2014

27.55 Delaney Goddard- 2021

27.76 Abby Woodall- 2019

27.98 Alyssa Pentzien- 2013

100 Butterfly

*54.12 Angela Coe- 2020

59.75 Jasmine Coe- 2017

1:02.00 Amy Swango- 1999

1:04.85 Colleen Hussey- 2004

1:05.22 Lauren Pentzien- 2013

1:06.27 Devan Finley- 2007

1:08.13 Ava Zheng- 2021

1:08.93 Abby Woodall- 2019

1:09.33 Savannah Esarey- 2008

1:10.96 Alyssa Pentzien- 2015

100 Freestyle

*51.91 Angela Coe- 2021

54.01 Lauren Pentzien- 2011

57.26 Jasmine Coe- 2017

57.62 Megan Swango- 2003

57.75 Amy Swango- 1999

59.58 Ava Zheng- 2021

1:00.21 Megan Woodruff- 2015

1:00.57 Molly Weber- 2019

1:01.34 Alyssa Pentzien- 2014

1:03.03 Jessica Hoh- 2021

500 Freestyle

*4:57.09 Angela Coe- 2020

5:30.27 Lauren Pentzien- 2013

5:42.29 Jasmine Coe- 2017

5:44.81 Meghan McGrady- 1999

5:49.29 Molly Weber- 2019

5:55.88 Mackenzie Erixon- 2021

5:56.33 Megan Woodruff- 2015

5:58.03 Alyssa Pentzien- 2014

6:11.17 Skyler James- 2013

6:13.73 Delaney Goddard- 2021

200 Freestyle Relay

* 1:48.74 Megan Woodruff, Aden Choate,

Alyssa Pentzien, Lauren Pentzien- 2013

100 Backstroke

*56.91 Angela Coe- 2021

1:03.49 Megan Swango- 2004

1:04.54 Jasmine Coe- 2017

1:05.60 Lauren Pentzien- 2013

1:06.87 Megan Woodruff- 2013

1:07.13 Mackenzie Erixon- 2021

1:07.50 Jessica Hoh- 2021

1:07.50 Ava Zheng- 2020

1:08.51 Katrina Hoferer- 2021

1:09.49 Devan Finley- 2004

100 Breaststroke

*1:02.58 Angela Coe- 2020

1:13.71 Jasmine Coe- 2017

1:14.83 Lauren Pentzien- 2013

1:15.86 Meghan McGrady- 2001

1:17.47 Devan Finley- 2007

1:18.97 Abby Geisler- 2019

1:21.11 Ava Zheng- 2021

1:21.90 Abby Woodall- 2019

1:23.39 Nina Dubois- 2010

1:23.56 Caitlin Ebinger- 2013