As she pops out of the pool after another first place finish, some people might think senior Alisha Yee doesn’t look like your typical swimmer. With bleach blond hair and a body that is as much a tattoo artist’s dream as a swim coach’s, Yee casts as striking a presence outside the pool as in it.

“Nine times out of 10 people meet me and don’t think I am an athlete,” Yee said. “I have always been a little different, and never followed what other people are doing.”

Yee’s coaches and peers find a correlation between her individual style outside the pool with her confidence in it.

Former Falcon swimming great Caroline Keating remembers watching Yee’s development as a swimmer as well as a college student.

Keating, who graduated from the University two years ago, remembers the buzz around the program when Yee made her official recruiting visit.

“From the day she walked on campus we were excited she was even considering us,” Keating said.

Once Yee accepted a scholarship at the University, her ability was evident from the first practice, but it took time for the West Coast native to adjust to swimming for a Division I college program.

“When Alisha was a freshman she was a little bit timid and not very self confident,” Keating said. “But over time, that changed; her uniqueness outside the pool helps with her confidence in it. I wouldn’t want to be the person racing against her today.”

Apart from her tremendous ability in the pool, and her rock star persona out of it, Yee is still a tremendous asset to the team’s chemistry.

“Alisha is a really hard worker, who won’t let anyone get in her way,” Keating said. “She is a teammate first and always puts everyone else first.”

Assistant coach Mark Howard couldn’t agree more.

“She is one of the girls the entire team looks up to,” Howard said. “She has an amazing work ethic and great personal determination.”

And in a generation where the “athlete” in student athlete comes first, Yee has been one to set the example for her teammates academically as well.

“Alisha has really stepped it up over the last year and a half; she has helped us maintain a team GPA of over 3.0,” Howard said.

As for her individualistic style, her coaches think it’s a perfect ingredient for team success.

“She is a quiet leader who leads by example,” head coach Keri Buff said. “When she has something to say we all stop and listen.”

Howard also embraces the senior’s uniqueness.

“Alisha has always marched to the beat of her own, very specific drum,” Howard said. “She always puts on a good show, and makes swimming exciting. Even through all her injuries, when she swims, everyone is watching to see what she will do next.”

From pink hair and tattoos in high school, to sub-two minute times in the pool as a senior at Bowling Green, Yee said she owes much of her success to Buff.

“Keri has helped me become a better everything: a better person, a better swimmer and a better leader,” Yee said.

Yee has been so dominant this season, watching her swim dual meets can be almost anti-climatic; she has won over 70 percent of the events she has entered this year.

And with her final meet as a Falcon less than a week away, Yee is gearing up to finish with a bang.

“I really want to get everything I can out of the Mid-American Conference Championships,” Yee said. “It hasn’t hit me yet that it will be all over. I don’t think it will hit me until my final race Saturday night.”

Yee has high expectations for her final 200 yard backstroke, looking to drop more than a second off her school record 1:59.53.

“I set a personal goal of swimming around 1:57.00 at the MAC Championship, and I a feeling good, so we will see.”

But just because her swim career is coming to an end, Yee is not leaving the program all together.

“I have talked to Keri about staying with the program,” Yee said. “I am going to be an assistant next year; I want to be able to still make an impact on the program.”

Buff is welcoming Yee’s contribution next year, and was emotional while praising her “franchise” swimmer.

“She has over come so much,” Buff said. “Every success has been her’s and her’s alone. She is the toughest kid on any block. She thrives on being knocked down.”

When asked what she thought Yee would get into after her graduation, Buff was confident in her swimmer’s high ceiling.

“After she graduates, I am very excited to see what she does next.” Buff said. “A rock star is the best way to describe her. Whatever she chooses to do she will be successful and we will hear her name again.”