Whether she’s slicking back her hair for ballroom dancing glam, putting on her All-Star cheerleading outfit before a major competition or preparing for a wrestling match, senior Tiantian Chai has one thing in mind: having fun and trying new things. Throughout these three sports, Chai’s perseverance and athleticism shine through all her pursuits. 

Chai’s athletic journey began with childhood lessons at Starlite Ballroom. Observing her flailing arms during the introductory lessons, her coaches encouraged her to do push-ups to build arm strength. Chai’s new strength carried over into cheerleading, which she joined on a whim in her freshman year.

“Ballroom dancing made translating into cheer a lot easier,” Chai said. “Doing the jumps, like the toe touches or hurdler jumps, and tumbling, like back walkovers and cartwheels, was a lot easier.”

In Chai’s junior year, the Lynbrook cheer team’s stunt limitations led her to audition for the All-Star program. The program created a more challenging environment, allowing Chai to hone her jumps, techniques and commitment. 

“All-Star cheer is more selective, so the people there are just a lot more passionate about it.” Chai said, “There’s a lot more creative freedom regarding the routines themselves. I feel more challenged. I feel like I’ve become better at the sport since joining, but I also feel sad about leaving the school team because I love my teammates.”

While Chai loved cheerleading, she decided to rejoin ballroom dancing in junior year after a two-year hiatus. Switching to private classes in international Latin dance, Chai swiftly began to relearn the moves to steps like the cha-cha and paso doble. She now competes in the professional-amateur division of ballroom dancing. 

“I was kind of nervous during my first lesson back because I had no clue whether the muscle memory was still there after taking a break for two years,” Chai said. 

In the pro-am division, Chai danced with her coach. During her first competition, the ballroom look — gelled hair, tall heels and heavy makeup — surprised her. Perhaps an even bigger surprise, however, was that she placed as a finalist for that competition.  

“Part of dancing is making it look easy,” Chai said. “The judges are not only looking at your body; they’re also looking at your face, how you’re presenting yourself. It’s a performative sport, so you want them to think that you’re having fun.”

In contrast, wrestling’s primary objective is to win, regardless of looks. Though she only joined the school team as a senior, Chai quickly picked up the skills and settled into the community. Yet balancing multiple time-consuming sports has affected her life beyond a  few practices and tournaments. One of the hardest decisions that Chai made was to miss the second of the three qualifying wrestling tournaments for the Central Coast Section to compete in a major cheerleading competition that same day. 

“Cheerleading is a team sport,” Chai said. “We practiced for many months, so I knew I couldn’t just leave a week before the competition. I could have done really well and qualified for states for wrestling, but wrestling is an individual sport, and missing it only impacts myself.”

While the grace of ballroom dancing, ferociousness of wrestling and excitement of cheerleading may seem to have nothing in common, all three sports have helped shape who she is. 

“The type of people I met allowed me to become a better communicator because of the different demographics between each sport,” Chai said. “There are some people my age, a few adults and also people in middle school.”