Oak Park and River Forest High School senior Adan Pedraza is a prime example of a dedicated athlete.
Pedraza represents the OPRF boy’s swim and dive team as a four-year varsity athlete. Pedraza has been a strong presence on the team during a successful season.
The team won sectionals on Feb. 17 and, remarkably, qualified at least one swimmer for the state tournament in all events. They competed at state Feb. 23 and 24 at the FMC Natorium in Westmont, finishing sixteenth overall.
At sectionals, Pedraza won the 200 Individual Medley, the 200 Medley Relay, the 200 Freestyle Relay and the 100 Breastroke, according to an email to OPRF staff from Head Coach Clyde Lundgren.
Pedraza said his leadership on the team would not be the same with teammate Lars Rauch. Rauch recalled that his love for swimming began with swim lessons through The Park District of Oak Park. Following that, he began swimming for Team Millenium at age 9.
Rauch described himself as a vocal leader who wants to inspire other swimmers to have confidence, perform their best and feel good when they’re in the water. After a successful high school career with multiple records, Rauch is excited to take the next step and swim in college.
Before coming to OPRF, Pedraza began swimming with Academy Bullets, a swim team based at Riverside Brookfield High School. Although he joined this team without many connections, Academy Bullets allowed Pedraza the opportunity to meet future teammates and improve his skills as a swimmer.
Throughout his career his brother was a big inspiration to him; he stated he “chased” his brother. He used that success to fuel his desire to advance in the sport and compete with his brother.
Pedraza also credited his current coach, Lundgren, as a mentor, citing his stellar technical coaching and inspiration.
Pedraza describes himself as one who leads by example, saying “It’s important to show that you can be a teammate before a leader.”
He expressed the need to showcase the values of a teammate, whether it be putting your best foot forward and setting the tone for the other swimmers, or uplifting others after a meet didn’t go the way that they had wanted.
With leadership comes building a strong connection between all the swimmers. Pedraza explained that sometimes it’s difficult to try and connect during practice because “our heads are underwater the majority of the time” but “remembering that you share a connection with the person in the lane next to you is important.” Even though swimmers can’t communicate as easily, they share a connection because they go through rigorous training together and spend countless hours perfecting their skills together.
Alongside the many traditions that were passed down over the years, the team makes time outside of the water to connect. Pedraza explains how the team will go to places like Georges Restaurant to grab a meal and reconnect after practice.
As Pedraza prepares for his departure from the OPRF swim and dive program, he reflects on everything he accomplished over the past four years. When he took his first swim as a varsity swimmer he would look up and see plaques with his older brother’s name on them, ever since then he’s wanted to chase after records and finally see his name on a plaque. As he leaves the OPRF program, he can proudly say that he has accomplished that.
Alongside past accomplishments, Pedraza currently holds the 200 medley relay East Pool record alongside three of his other teammates, senior Rauch and juniors Will Keyes and Pablo Pareja. Their time of 1:33:83 broke the record of 1:34:21.
