In high school, Megan Polaha certainly left her mark on the swimming program at Parkland High School. Polaha was a four time All-American, capturing the honor in the 200-yard medley relay and 200 freestyle relays as a sophomore and then taking the award again in the 100 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay as a junior.

Overall, Polaha won 16 district medals and 13 PIAA medals and set school records in four events and a Parkland pool record in another.

With her high school career finished, Polaha headed off to Fordham University to major in business and it’s worked out well both academically and in the pool. The fact that Fordham is located in New York City is exciting for Polaha and likes the fact that it’s easier to get good internships that she needs for college.

“It’s really a great school,” said Polaha. “I’m in the business school and it’s going really well for me. Being in the city offers a lot of opportunities and I don’t regret having picked Fordham.”

Polaha is in her junior season at Fordham and has already set three school records, with best times in the 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 400 IM. Her time of 1:58.51 in the butterfly came in the 2014 Atlantic 10 Championships and wasn’t only a school record, but a conference record as well. In each of the two previous seasons, Polaha has been named a First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection and could well be on the list again this season.

“It’s really nice to have that and it’s great that I’ve been fortunate enough to come this far with swimming,” said Polaha.

Polaha credits coaching, a change in training methods and a focus on details to helping her develop in the pool.

“It’s really all about coaching and teammates pushing me,” said Polaha. “I didn’t realize coming in what the times were, so I’m really proud to make such an impact, but I really have to credit to my coaches, my teammates and everyone who supports me, especially my parents.

“In high school, I didn’t do any lifting. Now, I have a lifting program that’s helped me get stronger. I’m also focusing on little things like turns and I really push my underwaters more, so a lot of it is just about the details and getting stronger.”

Polaha was able to make an immediate impact with Fordham and believes that her experience at Parkland was part of the reason why she had early success. The competition of the local swimming programs helped her to deal with pressure situations and knowing what it takes to win in the pool.

“The tough meets and the competition get you excited to race as fast as you can,” she said. “I put a lot of credit to that, because A-10 is just as fast and has a lot of competition. There’s Richmond, which is a really great team, and there are new teams coming in. It’s tough, but those meets got me prepared to race and I put a lot of credit to that.”

Looking back on Polaha’s career at Parkland, coach Rob Robitaille remembers how important Polaha was to the program and what a vital role she played with the team.

“She was a great athlete and did everything that you could ask for as a coach and would do any sequence of events that you asked her to do,” said Robitaille. “She was coachable, reliable and a really nice young lady. I was glad to see she’s doing so well in her conference. When she was here, she sort of helped groom this group of seniors. It was sad to see her go, but I’m glad that she’s doing awesome.”

While she doesn’t get home very often because of a hectic schedule of classes and swimming, Polaha gets updates from her Mom on what’s happening at Parkland and is excited about the prospect of this year’s girls team repeating the success of the 2012-2013 undefeated team that Polaha was a member of at Parkland.

While her high school team is focusing on its rivalry meet with Emmaus this week, Polaha is focusing on the Atlantic 10 Championships, which run through Saturday. After a disappointing trip to the championships last season, Polaha is looking to make the most of her chances this season.

“Individually, I’m hoping to get some best times,” she said. “Last year, I ended up getting sick, so I’m hoping that doesn’t happen again so I can try my best and set some best times. As for the team, we’re just looking to do the best that we can and see how far we’ve come. We’ve worked so hard over the past month that I really think we’re going to do great.”