While their 200-yard medley relay time clocks in just under two minutes, the bond between the swimmers in this relay is eight years in the making.

Seniors Heather Cistola and Miranda Rohn and junior Gretchen Frick have been swimming together for nearly a decade.

“We all started on [Lawrence] Aquahawks together and we swam together for a really long time, [then] we all ended up on Ad Astra [Area Aquatics of Lawrence] at one point, and now Heather’s back to the Aquahawks,” Rohn said. “It’s really nice to have each other back for high school season.”

The trio gained experience swimming relays together with Ad Astra. Last year with Ad Astra, the team swam five winning relays at one meet.

Once these swimmers joined the LHS swimming program, it became obvious they would make an impact on the team.

“LHS has had a number of very good female swimmers,” coach Kent McDonald said. “The record board shows that. Gretchen, Miranda and Heather are right up there with the best. Gretchen has a school record and these three girls are near school record times in the 200 medley relay and several individual events.”

This season, the three have collaborated in three relays: the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Junior Annie Odrowski and sophomore Nicole Oblon complete the various relays. All three relays have qualified for state.

Years of swimming together aids in the team’s success.

“It’s easier to do relay starts off of people if you know how they swim,” Frick said. “Because if you don’t know how someone swims, you could false start.”

Rohn believes the past swimming experience created an unspoken harmony.

“We’re in tune with each other,” Rohn said.

Along with competitiveness and drive, McDonald also sees the bond between the three swimmers, and the success that comes with it.

“They know each others strengths and weaknesses,” McDonald said. “They respect each other for their swimming and hard work. They don’t want to let the team down. They will do their best for each other.”

Swimming together as a team, the relay swimmers take advantage of being able to motivate each other before races.

“We just try to hype each other up, we just get each other excited,” Cistola said. “I think that’s when we swim the fastest.”

Using these tools, McDonald believes relay times will continue to improve. The 200-yard medley relay is even approaching a school record. The record stands at 1:51.71, set in 1993. While at state last year, the team barely missed beating the school record — by three tenths of a second. The best time accomplished this year was 1:58.70 on Apr. 5.

“It would be really nice if we could break the school record in the 200 medley relay because we were three tenths off of it last year,” Rohn said. “That one’s like dreaming big though. But I’d really like that.”

Cistola added, “That relay is our baby.”