Bellmore-Merrick Sharks thrive in pool

Building off of a big finish in 2010, the Bellmore-Merrick District girls’ swimming and diving team continued to reach new heights. It capped a strong regular season—just one loss—with a second-place finish at the Nassau County championships Nov. 2-5 at the Nassau Aquatic Center.

The best team finish in program history also featured three individual event champions — Calhoun junior Gabbie Toback took first in the 50-yard freestyle with a career-best time of 24.27 seconds and topped the county in the 100-yard backstroke (56.94) and Mepham freshman Kerri Giovannielo won the 100-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 52.75 seconds. The team will be represented by four swimmers in seven different events at this weekend’s New York Public High School Athletic Association Championships at Erie Community College in Buffalo and also had two relay teams qualify.

“We’re very excited about how well we did this year with the number of records we broke and our best finish ever,” Sharks coach Robert Kaefer said. “We’re really happy about how we meshed the year and came together for the big meets.”

Perhaps the best part is the fact that all of the key swimmers are coming back, save for Calhoun senior Natalia Wilkins. Toback’s time in the backstroke, another personal-best, also catapulted her into potential All-America status. Giovanniello added a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.26), and Kennedy freshman Paige Kaplan, a first-time varsity swimmer, took second in the 200 Individual Medley (2:10.40) and third in the 100-yard butterfly (59.72), qualifying for the state meet in both events.

Calhoun freshman Jessica Arana, another first-season varsity swimmer, was third in the 200IM, just two-hundredths of a second behind Kaplan, and third in the 100 backstroke. “She swam the backstroke after [competing in it] only once all season,” Kaefer said. “She usually swims the 500-yard freestyle, but had already qualified for the states in it [during the season].”