Love of Racing, Podium Pursuit Provide Maison with Plenty of Finals Drive

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

November 8, 2023

It’s not that Scarlet Maison needed extra motivation. But now that it’s there, the Standish-Sterling swimming sensation is using it to her advantage.

Bay & ThumbAfter winning a Lower Peninsula Division 3 Swimming Finals title in the 200-yard individual medley as a freshman, Maison placed third as a sophomore. She also was second in the 100 breaststroke, just barely missing the chance at a second-straight year of standing on the top of the podium.

That’s driving her to rectify things this season as a junior.

“I definitely feel more prepared than last year,” Maison said. “I’ve been doing a lot more lifting, and I’m a lot stronger. I’m definitely motivated this year. (Missing out on another title) I thought helped. After the race, I thought, ‘I could use this for next year.’ Sometimes, losing isn’t always losing.”

With the Division 3 Swimming & Diving Finals set for Nov. 17 and 18 at Oakland University, Maison once again has put herself among the top contenders in both of her signature events. 

She has the top time in the division this year in the 200 IM (2 minutes, 8.65 seconds) and the second-best time in the breaststroke (1:07.31). She’s also among the top 10 in the division in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly and has hit Finals qualifying times in every individual event this season, but will be focusing again on the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM.

“She’s always been one that loves to race, especially at a big meet, so it wasn’t surprising to see her race and put on a big swim when she did (as a freshman),” Maison’s father and coach, Shawn Maison, said. “I see her do it all the time. I do expect her to have a good meet next weekend, but you never know what (other swimmers) will do. It’s one of those things, she’s ready, she’ll be tapered and ready to go, but so will the field. It will be who wants it more at this point.”

Maison, a Finals champion in 2021, has qualified for every individual event this fall. A year ago Bloomfield Hills Marian’s Rachel Bello, who is now swimming at Washington University in Missouri, won both the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. 

Scarlet wanted it pretty badly in that meet, swimming personal bests in both races. But she admits the pressure of repeating as a champion got to her.

“The first year we were like, ‘If it happens, it happens,’” she said. “I didn’t realize I was ranked No. 1 going in, then in prelims I got second and was like, ‘Oh, I guess I can actually do this.’ I was excited to give it a shot. The second year, everyone expected me to do it again, and I was expecting me to do it again. There was definitely more competition.”

The competition is expected to be stiff again this year, which is OK by the Maisons. Winning another Finals title is certainly a goal, but beyond that, hitting cut times for the USA Swimming Futures Championships is the goal. The times are 1:05.49 in the 100 breast and 2:05.39 in the 200 IM. Her personal bests in the events are 1:06.91 and 2:08.3, respectively. 

Better competition could help bring the best out of Scarlet, like it always has. Whether it was trying to catch her older sister Sierra, who is now a sophomore swimmer at Saginaw Valley State, or the other swimmers in the bigger club meets she’s swam throughout her life, she’s at her best when she’s forced to rise to another level.

“It’s not like she’s always been ahead,” Shawn Maison said. “She’s swam against kids faster than her for her entire swim career. It’s not new to her to not win, but it would be new to her to not race. … Scarlet has always had that back end of a race. It didn’t matter if she was running cross country or track, or even in a soccer game, she always had more energy at the end to finish. That’s nothing new to her.”

With competition comes pressure, even if it’s a different pressure than she faced a year ago. But this season, Scarlet feels more physically and mentally prepared to take all of that on heading into the Finals.

A nagging knee injury held her out of track this spring, so she spent her time lifting, which has her feeling much stronger in the pool.

She also has that motivation, which, while now stronger than a year ago, was always there.

“Ever since I was little, I tried to be the best in the room,” she said. “I always liked the competition. When there’s no competition, it has to come from yourself. For one, I’m in love with swim; that really helps. I like being able to feel better in the pool every day. The days where you feel bad in the pool are not very fun. So you keep training and training, and when you beat your PRs and get better, that motivates you to keep going.

“Michael Phelps always says, ‘What is your Why?’ My Why is just that I want to get better and always have fun. And definitely the success. That’s the best part.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Standish-Sterling’s Scarlet Maison swims the butterfly this season. (Middle) Maison, a Finals champion in 2021, has qualified for every individual event this fall. (Photos courtesy of the Maison family.)

Preview: Could This Be Sault Ste. Marie's Season?

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 11, 2021

One of the most successful swimmers in Upper Peninsula high school history will have the opportunity Saturday to lead her team to a historic finish as well. 

Sault Ste. Marie senior Aliah Robertson will bring five individual and two relay championships into this weekend’s MHSAA Finals at Marquette High School with the Blue Devils strong contenders to claim their first team title. 

Diving is Friday at all swimming Saturday – click for more meet details. Both will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv

Here’s a glance at team and individual favorites:

Reigning champion: Marquette
Reigning runner-up: Sault Ste. Marie

Marquette has won the last two championships after finishing runner-up in 2017 and 2018, and the Redettes claimed last year’s title by 77 points. Sault Ste. Marie’s second place in 2020 was its highest finish since 2005. The Blue Devils enter with the top seeds in all three relays and five individual races, plus the reigning champion diver.

Joanne Arbic, Sault Ste. Marie junior – The two-time reigning champion in both the 50 and 100-yard  freestyles is seeded first in both (25.87 and 57.16, respectively). She also was part of two relay champs in 2020. 

Anna Hildebrand, Sault Ste. Marie junior – She also was on those two relay champions with Arbic and was second in the 200 free and third in the 500 last season. She’s the top seed in the 200 by more than three seconds with a 2:09.50 and the second seed to Arbic in the 100 (57.60). She set the meet record in the 50 last season. 

Delaney Marchiol, Marquette junior – The reigning 500 champion also has been part of relay winners each of the last two seasons. She is seeded second in the butterfly (1:06.74) and third in the breaststroke (1:17.62) this weekend. 

Adelaide McRoberts, Kingsford freshman – She enters her first Finals with the top seeds in the butterfly (1:00.06) and backstroke (1:00.96). 

Aliah Robertson, Sault Ste. Marie senior – She is seeded first in the breaststroke (1:07.39) by 10 seconds and the individual medley (2:12.88) by nearly 14. She holds in the meet records in both of those events and the breaststroke. 

Grace Sobczak, Marquette freshman – She also enters her first Finals with a chance to make a quick impact, seeded second in the IM (2:26.56) and first in the 500 (5:38.80). 

Sault Ste. Marie 200 medley relay – Robertson, Arbic, Hildebrand and sophomore Julie Innerebner have a seed time five seconds faster than the field at 1:56.24 after the same group won in a U.P. Finals-record 1:54.26 last season. 

Sault Ste. Marie 200 freestyle relay – Robinson, Arbic, Hildebrand and Innerebner also are the reigning champs in this relay, hoping to cut last season’s meet-record time of 1:42 and entering this weekend with a seed time of 1:45.26. 

Brianna Jones, Sault Ste. Marie sophomore – The reigning diving champion won last season with a 174.95. 

Avery Mariuzza, Ishepming Westwood senior – She finished second to Jones last season scoring a 173.80, and also fourth as a sophomore and third as a freshman. 

PHOTO: Sault Ste. Marie’s Aliah Robertson swims the winning 100-yard butterfly during the 2019 Upper Peninsula Finals. (Click for more from Jarvinen Photos.)