Bellmore-Merrick Swimming Loses Thriller to Long Beach

It's been twenty-five years since the Bellmore-Merrick swimming team last defeated Long Beach. They'll have to wait at least one more year if they want to end that drought.

In a thrilling meet on Tuesday evening, Bellmore-Merrick led host Long Beach going into the final race, but could not claim any of the top spots and lost the meet by a single point, 93-92.

"It was a very exciting meet, as many of our meets have been this season," coach Robert Kaefer said. "Obviously it came down to the last race, and we just weren't there for it."

Bellmore-Merrick started the meet off well, having the first-place finisher in the first seven races. The higher the finish, the more points you gain for your team. However, key losses at the end of the meet resulted in Long Beach accumulating more total points.

The first race of the day featured a first place finish in the 200-medley relay for Bellmore-Merrick, with Mepham's Austin Kowalsky, Calhoun's Oscar Arana, Kennedy's Steven Gassert and Calhoun's Dan Elliot finishing with a time of 1:44.49.

Those four swimmers would continue to have success throughout the entire meet, as Arana returned for the second race, placing first in the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:59.96. Elliot then placed first in the 200-individual relay with a time of 2:10.96, and Gassert came in third. Kowalsky went on to win the next two races. He won the 50-freestyle with a time of 00:22.89, then placed first in the 100-fly, timing in at 00:54.45.

Coach Kaefer praised this group of swimmers, particularly Kowalsky and Gassert.

"We had some great times," Kaefer said.  "Austin Kowalsky and Steven Gassert swam some great races."

Bellmore-Merrick was also successful in the diving portion of the meet, claiming 12 of the 15 possible points. After six events and half of the meet complete, Bellmore-Merrick led by nine points, 51-42.

The seventh race featured a new name, with Kennedy's Max Krackow winning first place with a time of 00:51.45. The team then expanded their lead in the eighth race, after Mepham's Michael Giovanniello came in first at 5:33.31. It was an exciting finish as Calhoun's Luke Robierti managed to finish in second place by a mere 28 tenths of a second over the third place finisher from Long Beach. After this, Bellmore-Merrick led 69-56.

At this point, chants of "Let's go, Long Beach!" resounded from the stands and echoed around the pool, as the fans attempted to pump up their swimmers. It seemed to have worked, as they swam with new life and Bellmore-Merrick began to feel the effects of fatigue.

The next race was the 200-freestyle relay, and the only group to place from Bellmore-Merrick  was Calhoun's Anthony Arana, Elliot, Krackow, and Calhoun's Patrick Tucker, who finished in third. The next race featured the team's last first place finish of the day, as Gassert claimed the top spot with a time of 00:59.77, and Mepham's Carlos Ballon finished in third. Oscar Arana came in second in the eleventh race, which was the 100-breaststroke.

This set the stage for the final race, the 400-relay. Leading 88-83, Bellmore-Merrick would win the meet with either a first place finish, or by finishing in both second and third place. However, it ended in heartbreaking fashion, with a team of Krackow, Ballon, Kowalsky and Oscar Arana finishing in second place, and Long Beach claiming both first and third place. In result, they lost the meet, 93-92.

Fatigue was a factor in the last race, according to Kowalsky.

"I could have swum faster in the 400 relay," Kowalsky said. "But I just didn't have enough energy."

Team captain Luke Robierti expressed his disappointment, but remained optimistic.

"It was the first time we were supposed to beat Long Beach in 25 years," Robierti said. "But it didn't work out well. We did all we could though, and we're going to get them next year."