Boys swimming: Elk Grove's Falejczyk has fun through his finale

Fitting that Elk Grove senior Jack Falejczyk would use a gaming analogy to describe how he felt about the end of his high school swimming days.

"It's like you've been at it a long time, having fun," he said with a smile, "but now you reach in your pocket and you realize you're out of tokens."

Like any competitor, Falejczyk enjoys racing. Like very few other swimmers, he competes without the benefit of eyesight.

If you think this has somehow lessened his enjoyment of swimming, well, you don't know Jack.

The fun-loving Falejczyk has participated fully in the sport, undergoing the full train-taper-shave-race sequence as his sighted counterparts for four seasons.

All of which made a collection of best times deeply satisfying on Saturday in the Athletes With Disabilities state finals heats at Evanston.

Falejczyk started by dropping almost 10 seconds from his previous best in the 200 free. Next was a 29.87 in the 50 free - another big drop, and the first time under 30 seconds.

Then it was a 5-second drop to 1:06.13 in the 100 free, and for a finale, a nearly 10-second drop to 1:25.55 in the 100 breaststroke.

Coaches Dave Toler and Jason Spjuth have shared in developing Falejczyk's skills. During races, it's up to one of them to reach over Falejczyk's lane with a long rod, to the end of which is affixed a small foam cushion. When Falejczyk is 5 yards from the end of the pool, he gets a tap atop his head to signal that he's getting close.

That part of the system has worked well. Harder to master has been staying on a straight path in between the flags.

"For me, the challenge has been in just explaining how to do things," said Toler, head coach of the Elk Grove varsity girls team. "For us as coaches, what we usually do is take somebody and just show them - 'Do it like this.' But with Jack we've really worked to come up with different approaches."

Toler said getting more distance per stroke, even in the final couple of days before the state meet, had a lot to do with all those best times.

Falejczyk agreed but cited another crucial factor:

"The water here's really cold," he said. "Makes me want to get in and out faster."

Through four years of competition, Falejczyk always saw ways to enjoy the activity in which he was immersed.

"I think the one constant with Jack is, he's always going to find a way to have fun," Toler said. "I think we did that together."