Throughout his swimming career, Stevenson’s Nick Koto has talked to his father, Vern, after meets.
For the longest time, the father would relay an observation to his son.
“I’m a lot smaller than the other guys. So we’d go to [high school] sectionals or club state or junior nationals and my dad would say, ‘You can see the difference between you and these other swimmers. You need to bulk up a little,’ ” Nick Koto said.
During the summer of 2013, Nick Koto began to take his father’s advice. That winter, Koto made the state cut in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles while swimming a leg for the Patriots’ state-qualifying 400 free relay team.
By the time the Patriot Aquatics club team’s season began in the spring, Nick Koto was either in the pool or strengthening his body.
Working with trainer Luke Martinez, Nick Koto regularly did a combination of weight-lifting (bench press, squat, lat pull down) and body-weight (dips, pull-ups) exercises. Already possessing a strong kick, the hope was the extra muscle in his arms, shoulders and legs would increase his velocity in the water.
“My coaches talked about my kick, to catch as much water and pull as much water as I can. Being able to pull more helps me get out fast,” Nick Koto said. “It helps with sprints and getting out in the 500 [freestyle]. I can conserve strokes as I’m going further with every pull.”
When Nick Koto put up a personal best time of 1 minute, 41 seconds in the 200 free earlier this fall, the mark validated his extra strength work. When high school workouts began in November, Patriots coach Greg Hartman noticed an immediate difference.
“He can get out with stronger speed and use less effort. He’s getting better in the [backstroke] and [butterfly],” Hartman said. “He has more tools to bring to a training environment and will continue to improve.”
Nick Koto’s versatility is a coach’s dream. Hartman can use him on any of the three relay teams (200, 400 free and 200 medley) and in the 200 and 500 free individual events.
The rest of Stevenson’s roster is deeper than it was a season ago, fusing experienced returning swimmers with talented newcomers. Two members of the state-qualifying 200 medley relay team are back (seniors Viktor Makarskyy and Nathanael Wingfield) as are senior Dimitriy Pelutis and junior Alex Kapecki, both freestyle specialists.
A strong freshman class led by Nicholas Baginski (butterfly) and Daniel Ng (medley) will be in the lineup for Saturday’s Lake County meet at Stevenson. They are expected to be in the mix when the state series rolls around in February.
“They will make an immediate impact on the sectional lineup,” Hartman said.
Nick Koto said he’s gained around five pounds of muscle since a year ago (he weighs 173 pounds on a 5-11 frame). After a recent meet, Vern Koto noticed a difference.
“He said, ‘I realized you look a lot bigger than before,’ ” Nick Koto said. “I said, ‘I’m happy it’s working.’ I’m seeing gains.”