Bearcat Bites is an interview feature that will be posted throughout the fall semester. Our ninth interview is Kasper Gacek of men's swimming.

BaruchAthletics.com spoke to Kasper on how he has handled the pandemic and what he misses the most about competing and school.

Year: Sophomore  
Major: Finance  
Minor:  Political Science  
  
Q: How many credits are you taking this semester?  
I am taking 18 credits.  
  
Q: What is a new hobby you discovered during the quarantine?  
 A new hobby I discovered was doing a lot of shopping for workout equipment I can use at home. I did that to make sure I can stay in shape, but once the gyms became open, I started working out at the gyms.  
  
Q. What was your go to meal?  
 My go to meal is Ruskie Pierogis, which are Polish dumplings with potato and cheese. They are also covered with onions and the dumplings are boiled.  
  
Q. What shows have you been binge watching?  
 'The Office', 'The Boys', and 'The Peaky Blinders'.  
  
Q. How has this pandemic changed you as a person? Is there something that you learned about yourself?   
The pandemic didn't change me much because I was already used to being at home during some of my vacations as a kid. But it has made me apply for internships and get started on that. I have always been a creative person, so I always have something new to do. But this experience has made me more active in working out at home.   
  
Q. What do you miss the most about being on campus with your team and playing?  
 I miss sitting with my team in our little couch area near the pool during gap hours while talking about life and laughing with them. Also, when we swim, I miss gaining their advice on what to change in my stroke to make me swim more efficiently.  
  
Q. What is the first thing you are excited to do when you return back to campus?  
 Jump into the pool, do my 600 warmup, and then do each set that coach tells us to do.  
  
Q. What is the first place you want to travel to after the pandemic?  
 The pool, of course.  
  
Q. How have you kept in touch with your team, family or friends?  
I have used FaceTime to talk with my girlfriend, used platforms like Zoom, Skype, Slack, Viber, Snapchat, GroupMe, Instagram, and Facebook to contact my friends and family. Some weekends I would go with my father and brother to our vacation house in Pennsylvania and I would hang out with friends once or twice a month with social distancing and wearing a mask.   

Q:  What made you start swimming competitively?  
As a kid, I always loved going to the pool and beach. I also played basketball from first grade to sixth grade for my church team, but I grew tired of it and wanted to gain experience in a different sport. Since I always loved swimming, seventh grade was the year when I started swimming competitively for Match Point near Coney Island. I stopped due to high school, but swam for my high school team for four years, while managing the girls' team for two years. By my junior year I received the captain title and again my senior year. Swimming has always kept me in a smooth relaxing mood and made me think of life and the pool as my home. I wanted to swim in college and joined Baruch mainly for the swim team. I will never stop swimming because it gives me passion, even if I'm not the fastest yet.  
  
Q. What is the biggest difference you have noticed where you live during this pandemic?  
In the first five months of the quarantine each night was super quiet and it didn't feel like it was New York City. Recently, ever since things re-opened, the noise of the businesses and cars came back at night, so I would say it is back to normal.  
 
Q:  What is your dream job? Where do you hope to see yourself in ten years from now?  
Honestly with me majoring in finance, it gives me a wide variety of options. Baruch was a choice I made due to the swimming program, rather than the business field at first because I started thinking about business my last year of high school. At this time, I was deciding between Baruch and N.Y.I.T.  N.Y.I.T. had mechanical engineering in business administration, which was at first my dream job, but I realized I didn't like it after a job experience in that field that I took in the summer. Baruch had swimming and this sport made me feel closer to what I want to do in the future. My dream job would either be working for a sports company and becoming a financial analyst for them, a financial manager, or be an agent that deals with contracts. My back up job would be teaching finance as a teacher or professor, be a sports agent, or a coach. My future isn't clear as to what I want to do, but I know whatever high-paying job I get, I will represent it because I'm always a team player.  

PREVIOUS BEARCAT BITES (Student Q&A)
September 4: Softball's Emilia Zakoscielny  STORY
September 11: Baseball's Luke Lombardi STORY
September 18: Basketball's Daniela Zirpolo STORY
September 25: Basketball's Jehmehl Fair STORY
October 2: Soccer's William Morais STORY
October 9: Volleyball's Katherine Chen STORY
October 16: Volleyball's Shankar Stallone STORY
October 23: Swimming & Cross Country's Amanda Lee STORY

PREVIOUS BEARCAT STAFF CHATS (Staff Zooms)
(#1) Baruch College Associate Athletic Director for Administration & Finance Erin Pomykala hosted a Bearcat chat on Thursday, October 15. Among the topics discussed was reducing stress and finding balance through mindfulness practice. This informative podcast is the entire audio of that zoom chat.

YouTube 
Anchor FM
Spotify
Google Podcast
iTunes

(#2) Men's & Women's Tennis Coach Gregory Wyzykowski hosted a Bearcat zoom chat on Thursday, October 22. He discussed basic financial planning for students and adults.  This informative podcast is the entire audio of that zoom chat.

YouTube
Anchor FM
Spotify  
Google Podcast  
iTunes