When Pioneer High School water polo goalie Kevin Smith says he's not a strong swimmer, his words are as hilariously ironic as when Martin Short uttered them while parodying an aspiring male synchronized swimmer in a classic Saturday Night Live skit.

Short's character, despite his Olympic aspirations, needed a life jacket to stay afloat. The way Smith flies above the water, fending off rocketed shots, one might assume he had some buoyant assistance as well.

Of course, Smith's life preserver is work ethic; his seemingly impossible saves a product of hours of tireless training.

Smith has been the gatekeeper for the Pioneers for three years, and after a senior season in which he was named to the All-State tournament second team, he's the AnnArbor.com Washtenaw County Player of the Year.

"He's a game-changer in goal," says Pioneer coach Will Hart. "(He) makes other teams change how they're going to shoot."

Smith is quick to point out all the help he's had in developing his game, including Olympic goalie Betsey Armstrong, Pioneer assistant coach Tony Anderson, and swim coach Denny Hill, who helped him transform into a "strong swimmer," and potentially a Division I college player. Smith is strongly considering playing at Fordham University in New York City.

This from someone who says he used to hate swimming and only went to the pool because his mom made him. He would have rather been on the basketball court. But once Smith sniffed the varsity level in his freshman season of water polo, he gave up basketball to improve his swimming in the offseason.

"I took him to swimming practice," says Kevin's father, Brian, of the day his son decided to commit fully to the pool. "I dropped him off at swimming and said, ‘If you change your mind, I can bring your sneakers.'"

If Hart's training regimen hadn't already changed Kevin's mind, nothing would. Looking for a way to improve his goalie's strength, Hart would fill different sized buckets with water while Kevin balanced them over his head. He called the workout "Buckets of Fun."

"There's mercy, pure pain, torture and death," says Smith of the unique names for the different sized buckets.

What, no Venti?

"It scared me at first, but now it's the kind of workout I look forward to. With a goal in mind, to be the best I can be, it doesn't bother me anymore," he says.

The two-time Michigan Water Polo Association East Region MVP had his mind set on ending Pioneer's consecutive state runner-up streak at five. Though the streak was halted, it wasn't in preferred fashion as top-ranked Pioneer fell in the semifinals on Nov. 14.

Though the loss ended Smith's, and his team's, chance at ultimate redemption (they lost the previous two finals by one goal apiece), the third-place match was still a fitting place for him to end his career as the Pioneers faced cross-town rival Huron.

The 9-3 win was especially rewarding for Smith. He and his best friend and teammate, Grant Cole, teamed up for one last time to stymie Huron's go-to scorer David Hasegan, who has given Smith fits over the years.

When Cole would stop Hasegan, it was Smith offering a high five or an "atta boy," and when Smith stopped a one-on-one, he let out scream that had Hart worried he might get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

"It looked like I was chirping Hasegan, but honestly I was just fired up because that shot that he takes has gotten me so many times over the years," says Smith. "I finally got it."

He swam to the deck one last time for the Pioneers late in the fourth quarter, offering words of advice and passing the torch to sophomore Max Benson, just as Danny Jenkins had to him years ago.

When Benson stopped a pair of Huron shots, including a one-on-one with Hasegan, Smith jumped from the bench and nearly into the pool.

"I'm proud of him. A lot of people would have been scared," says Smith. "He showed people that we got another goalie coming back."

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham