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Bellmore-Merrick's 200-medley relay comprises, clockwise, from bottom, Steven Gassert, Max Krackow, Oscar Arana and Austin Kowalsky.
Frank Koester/Herald
Assembling a relay team involves more than finding four fast swimmers. Members of a strong medley relay feed off and know how to push one another. That's one of the main reasons the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District boys' 200-yard medley relay squad has already seen big-time success early in the season.
The Sharks’ four-man relay has finished first in six out of seven meets. Sophomore Austin Kowalsky and freshman Steven Gassert switch off on the first and third legs, backstroke and butterfly, while senior Oscar Arana swims the second leg, breaststroke, and junior Max Krackow anchors, swimming freestyle.
"We’ve got a group of guys on there that are really good at their respective races," head coach Bob Kaefer said. "I can actually mix them up a little bit and get a similar result because the guys that are on that relay are all-around good swimmers."
Kowalsky, Arana, Gassert and Krackow –– swimming in that order –– turned in their fastest time, 1 minute, 43.82 seconds, against Jericho on Jan. 12.
And not just the relay squad stands out: The Bellmore-Merrick team it is part of is now 5-1-1. Kaefer said he believes the team’s success starts with the medley relay, which kicks off each meet. “As you start to win,” he said, “guys buy into it more, and there's more desire to do even better.”
Much of that desire to succeed stems from not wanting to let teammates down. Bonds among teammates run deep in a sport like swimming, in which competitors can make the team starting in seventh grade, and many have competed for the same swim clubs outside school since childhood. "We're used to swimming with each other, and also we're all really good friends," Krackow said.
Kowalsky agreed. “We kind of joke around and stuff,” he said. “Austin and Oscar and Stephen, they're all really funny guys, so it makes it a lot easier and more comfortable to swim with them. I feel like the race is more personal because I've known everybody there for a while. I just want to do better when I swim.”
It doesn't hurt that Kowalsky has already qualified for the state championships in the 50-yard freestyle as well as the 100 fly. And the other members of the relay have a good shot at qualifying for individual events as well. Krackow's fastest 50 free is 23.40 seconds, less than a second away from the state qualifying time of 22.5.
And if each medley relay swimmer drops just over half a second in his leg, the relay team could make the state qualifying time of 1:41.27.
Egging one another on, and with their teammates cheering from the stands, they'll likely get there.
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