It's full speed ahead for Gagliardo

Before every meet, Warren swimming coach Erik Rogers has a dilemma.

What events does he use senior Kirk Gagliardo in?

It's a fun problem for a coach to have.

"We see what the other team is putting out there and we always match him up against their better swimmers," Rogers said. "Hopefully, we can then get a win in that event."

Gagliardo enjoys the challenge of swimming in different events. He has a top-three time in Lake County for just about every event.

"I have the ability to swim all those strokes, and I can (go) wherever the team needs me," he said.

As a junior, Gagliardo set school records in the 50-yard freestyle (21.89), the 100 freestyle (48.24) and the 200 freestyle (1:45.18). He qualified for state in the 100 and 200 freestyle.

This season, he would like to challenge or break the school records in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.

"Every time I swim, I'm shooting to get my name on the board," he said.

Added Rogers: "We really like where his butterfly is now."

Gagliardo plans on swimming at the collegiate level, possibly for Division III Grove City College, a Liberal Arts Christian College in Pennsylvania.

In the meantime, he's focused on accomplishing as much as he can at the high school level.

"I spent a lot of time last season building technique," he said. "I'm more confident now, and I feel a lot more powerful in the water."

Big meet: Can you imagine a basketball coach trying to wear out his team in the days leading up to a game against a big conference rival?

Of course not.

That's one of the reasons swimming can be so intriguing.

For instance, Stevenson and Lake Forest will renew their annual rivalry at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Lincolnshire.

Each team has only lost to Libertyville and will be battling for second place in the conference. Even so, don't expect coach Susan Whitehouse to have her swimmers rested for the meet.

She knows that to drop time when it matters, the Patriots must continue working hard.

"We don't have a meet this week, so we have the time to do some more specialized stuff and make it as hard as possible," Whitehouse said.

"It's a big meet with Lake Forest, but we're still looking at the big picture."