Let’s walk over to the starting blocks with Yan Yee Adler, Pioneer’s amazing senior swimmer and learn what’s going through her head when she’s getting ready for a race.
“Before my races, I like to talk with my teammates and friends and try to keep it as lighthearted as possible,” she says. “I don’t like to think too much about my actual races while I am waiting for them to start because it helps keep me from getting too nervous. For my races, I just try to focus on the first 25. I concentrate on the number of kicks and strokes that I need to start my race well. This way for the first part of my race I can center my attention on my own race and then I just build from there.”
This approach has proven to be quite successful.
Adler finished second in both the individual medley (2:06.92) and the 500 free (4:59.2) at the MHSAA Division 1 State Finals helping lead the Pioneers to a fourth straight state title.
“We were incredibly close,” says Adler. “High school swim is a different dynamic than any other swim program that I have been a part of. It’s a team sport here, rather than a focus on individual races, which drives our team culture. All the girls know that we’re working hard for our teammates and we don’t want to let each other down. That kind of accountability and connection brings us closer both as teammates and friends.
“Plus, we’re all genuinely friends with each other which is so important to our culture because we enjoy and value our teammates as people outside of the sport. That only helps our connectedness in the pool.”
Adler, who attends Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University but is enrolled there through Pioneer because it is her home district, was a member of all four state titles and never lost a meet while swimming for the Pioneers.
“Yes, it’s honestly crazy for me to even comprehend,” Adler says of her team’s amazing success. “To start, it all comes back to our coaches, who invest an incredible amount of knowledge, dedication and hard work into our team. Especially Stef (Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska) – she is the heart of the program. She has so much knowledge to give. Without her and the guidance of the rest of our coaching staff, we wouldn’t be the team we are today.”
Adler says the entire coaching staff cares deeply about their development both as athletes in the pool and young women outside of it.
“This fosters a sense of confidence and kindness within the team, ultimately making us a closer-knit, more successful team,” she says. “The dynamic between the girls is also so foundational. Every team member understands the importance of contributing (whether it be through swimming fast or cheering for others) — we’re all swimming for each other. Especially at this year’s state meet, a big focus that fueled the success of our team was to just swim for our teammates, not ourselves. We talked about moving up just one or two spots in races to score more points for the team rather than just focusing on individual times and achievements.”
It all paid off in late November at the MHSAA Division 1 State Championship in the Jones Natatorium at Eastern Michigan University. The Pioneers racked up 301 points to finish a distant first, well ahead of runner-up Grand Haven (237.5 points). The four consecutive state titles are the most for a Lower Peninsula Division 1 team since the Pioneers won nine straight from 2000-2008.
Adler was thrilled and proud of her two runner-up finishes, which included taking second behind teammate Stella Chapman in the IM that gave the Pioneers 37 points with the one-two finish.
“The 200 IM was new to my state meet lineup this year because in the past I’ve always had a different event as my second individual race in addition to the 500 free,” she says. “It was a fun change to try something new, especially during my senior year. I was really pleased with the outcome. I placed the highest I have ever placed individually at the state meet and was happy with how I raced my races. I was very excited to get second place in both of my events and contribute those points to my team because I’d never been able to score that many points before.”
Yan Yee, 17, is the daughter of Kris Adler and Sau Man (Lee Anne) Adler. She swims to a 4.0 GPA and is involved in student government. She started swimming with a local summer team when she was 7 and then joined a year-round club team when she was 9.
“I played a couple of other sports when I was much younger, but those fell through fast because I loved swimming so it just stuck, and it’s always been that,” she says.
Staying motivated has never been a problem, even getting up early for those before-school swims. It all comes back to what it means to swim for Pioneer and being part of a very special team.
“Waking up at 5 a.m. for morning practice during the school year never gets easier, but for me, knowing that my teammates depend on me and expect me to be there gives me the extra push when needed,” she says. “There’s a lot of accountability among the girls on the Pioneer team, so that keeps us all in check and excited to show up for not only ourselves but our teammates too.”
In the off-season, Adler trains with the Saline Swim Team six days a week and does both swimming and dryland (weightlifting) workouts. Many of her Pioneer teammates train there as well.
All of her hard work, dedication and amazing attitude and approach has taken her to the highest level in high school athletics and academics. It also helped take her to MIT. She will be swimming and studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the next four years.
“While I’m not 100 percent set on it, I plan on studying biological engineering on the pre-med track,” she says. “I chose MIT for the incredible people I met while visiting and for the perfect balance it offers between swimming and world-class academics and opportunities.”
While we started this on the starting block, let’s finish on the pool deck and get some expert words of advice from Adler for young kids walking over to the starting blocks for the first time.
“My advice would be to have fun,” she says. “While it sounds cliché, having fun at practice with your teammates is really what makes it special. Making practices fun not only provides that extra motivation to attend practice even on challenging days but also encourages you to push yourself a little harder during workouts.”
Great advice from the “perfect” high school swimmer, who never lost during her four years in the pool, and will carry that winning attitude and approach with her to her next starting block at MIT and beyond.
Photos courtesy of Kevin Guo & Chuck Yadmark
