Photos by Glenn Triest
I SPORTS
Speedster Adam Farber is surrounded by young BBA teammates.
Adam Farber makes .bigger,
older kids think they're going
in slow motion.
RICHARD PEARL
Special to The Jewish News
/N dam Farber can't
help it if he makes
older, bigger kids
cough up the chlo-
rine, rub their
eyes and say, "But Mom, he's
only 8!"
Just look what happened
when Adam entered a trio of
recent swimming meets:
• In mid-March at Livonia,
the little butterflyer from
West Bloomfield nearly blew
everyone out of the pool when
he brought his medley relay
team from 10 lengths back in-
to a tie for first.
• In a prestigious mid-
winter meet at Milwaukee, he
competed in two divisions and
bested a field of 150 top swim-
mers from more than 10
states, winning five first
places and the individual
scoring title.
• In the Michigan state
meet in early March, for
which he qualified in 12
events, he swam against
older, more experienced kids
andstill managed two top-10
finishes.
Not bad for a kid who's a
head shorter than most of the
competition.
However, what really
makes Adam's aquatic
achievements unusual is, at
his age, it's the girls, not the
boys, who are the top
swimmers.
"Boys don't specialize in an
event or stroke until they're
15 or 16, and that's the age
they usually surpass the
girls," says Adam's proud
father, Clem Farber. Adam is
already better than girls his
Adam works on his breast stroke.
age — including some who
are older.
Young Farber is something
of a phenomenon. "I've been
coaching in Michigan 15
years," said John McGuire,
coach of Adam's Birmingham-
Bloomfield Atlantis (BBA)
Swim Club, "and I don't know
if I've ever had anyone as fast
and as well-rounded as Adam
is at age 8!'
McGuire, who also is the
Troy High School boys swim
coach, says although Adam is
still learning, he has "good
mechanics in his stroke. He's
a very agile, quick athlete
with excellent hand-eye coor-
dination. He could play any
sport well because he is
among the genetically gifted,
like a Michael Jordan!'
The youngster also is ex-
tremely mature for his age,
says the coach. Besides his
athletic ability and genes,
Adam is intelligent and "emo-
tionally under control, which
for someone his age is very
rare.
"I've known him two
seasons and I've never seen
anything selfish or immature.
He's got a good sense of
humor for a kid his age — he
loves to clown around in the
pool.
"You don't get this kind of
athlete but every 10 years or
so!"
McGuire states flatly:
"There are no girls in
Michigan who are faster than
Adam." He adds that Adam is
on a path to be where premier
Michigan 11-year-old swim-
mer Jennifer Vanker is today:
clocking times that rank with
the top six for high school
girls.
Comparisons between Van-
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