Aya Ferguson already has a place in the CIF San Diego Section record book in two girls swimming relays.
Now the Torrey Pines High School senior is poised to add another mark in an individual event.
In last year’s section championships, Ferguson came within 14/100ths of a second of the 100-yard freestyle mark of 49.63 seconds, set in 2012 by Westview’s Valerie Hull.
“I want to go for that record this year. It’d be super exciting,” Ferguson said. “My goal is probably to go sub-49, but when I go into a race, I don’t really like thinking of time expectations. I just do the best I can do. When there are time expectations on me, I just don’t go as fast.”
Also on the line for Ferguson are three-peat Division 1 titles in the 100 free and the 200 free in the section meet, which begins May 6.
“Aya’s just taken advantage of all her gifts and all her opportunities, and she’s just makes the most out of everything,” Torrey Pines coach Richard Contreras said.
“She has a very good feel for the water, she’s not afraid at all of hard work, and she’s a very fierce competitor.”
Chances are as well that the Falcons can again rewrite the records in the 200 and 400 free relays.
Two years ago, Torrey Pines broke the 200 free relay mark in the section prelims — then did it again in the finals and the state meet. Yet another record time (1:34.16) came in last year’s section finals.
Along with Ferguson, senior Katrina Wietfeldt and junior Anita Quin return to the 200 freestyle relay team. With the graduation of Sophie Kelly, the top candidates for the other postseason spot are sophomores Carolyn Han and Scarlet Zhang. In the 400 freestyle relay, the Falcons have the exact same foursome back in Quinn, Wietfeldt, Han and Ferguson. The swimmers set the mark of 3:26.09 last year, breaking the previous record of 3:26.66 set by Torrey Pines in 2018.
Count on Ferguson, who will swim collegiately at Northwestern, to anchor each relay and confront the opponents’ fastest swimmers.
“In some relays, (teammates) will give me a big lead, and I like being out in front,” Ferguson said. “On the flip side, I think I go faster when I have someone next to me to race. I like being the anchor, honestly. It’s just even more adrenaline.”
Meet or practice, Ferguson is not known to ever let down.
“It’s a pretty natural instinct and how I was raised,” Ferguson said. “I don’t like going to practice and just giving 80%. Then I’m just not satisfied with how I did. Why go at all if you’re not going to try? I always give it my best, even subconsciously.”
As a freshman, Ferguson placed 11th in both the 200 and 500 free despite a chronic illness caused by a weak immune system. Then came a breakthrough the next year. Not only did Ferguson take seven seconds off her 200 freestyle time to prevail with a time of 1:49.73, but she also cracked the 51-second milestone to win the 100 freestyle (50.71).
Ferguson committed in November of her junior year to Northwestern, where she plans to major in a sector of biology.
“I ended up liking Northwestern the best, so I just decided to commit early. Why not?” Ferguson said. “And I’m really
Torrey Pines High School swimming star Aya Ferguson is headed to Northwestern University. (Aya Ferguson)
happy with my decision.”
While Ferguson approached the 100 free record last year, her 200 free time (1:47.82) stood more than a second off the mark (1:46.62) established in 2005 by Blake Hayter of USDHS (now Cathedral Catholic). Hayter’s records in the 200 free and 500 free (4:43.75) are the section’s oldest, girls or boys.
Ferguson had the chance to improve her times at last year’s state meet. While she competed in her four events, Ferguson felt the effects of a persistent cold. Ferguson ended up 21st (1:51.26) in the prelims despite being seeded second.
“Since last year, I really want to make sure I’m on top of my health and my process,” Ferguson said. “I’m just hoping for a medal. I really love medals.”
Along the way, Ferguson is simply yearning to relish her high school farewell.
“I’m just trying to soak it up and really enjoy every moment,” Ferguson said. “I just have such a good team surrounding me, and I’ve made such good friends through the sport, and it’s just so fun. I love the atmosphere, and I just love swimming.”
In record fashion.