One of the first things visitors see when walking into the Wildcat pool deck is the Board of Records, a green and gold sign that lists the fastest swimmers in BOHS history. 

The newest addition to this roll call of record-breakers is senior Brandon Kow, who set the new standard for the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyles at the Crestview League Championship finals on April 26.

Kow broke his own records — 1:40.41 in the 200 and 4:35.85 in the 500 — that he had set two weeks prior. 

“Having my name on the Board of Records means so much because I never [even] had a varsity letterman jacket, and now there’s going to be a lot of people who will know my name,” Kow said.

In the 200, Kow lowered his record-breaking time by a second, a “major drop,” according to Kow. 

The senior narrowly surpassed his 500 record. “I was also proud of my 500 time, but I think I could’ve gone faster in the end because I only beat my time by 0.03 seconds,” Kow said. 

The previous records, set by Tim Burstrom in 1992, had remained untouched for 32 years. 

On April 13 and 14, Kow broke Burstrom’s (’92) records in back-to-back races at the Meet of Champions at Mount San Antonio College (Mt. SAC).

Kow shaved 0.83 seconds off of Burstrom’s record. 

“There were a lot of good swimmers that I was racing against, so I think they pushed me to go faster, which gave me my first record-breaking race,” Kow said.

On the final day of the meet, Kow edged Burstrom’s 500 record time by 0.3 seconds. 

Gil Rotblum, swim head coach, said, “I’m super excited for [Brandon]. He really deserves this.”

Rotblum held off on putting Kow’s name, time, and record on the Board of Records after the Mt. SAC meet, because he was “confident that Kow would break his own record.” Rotblum was proven right because just two weeks later, Kow broke the records again.

At Crestview League finals on April 26, Kow took first place in every individual event he participated in, which earned him the title of Crestview League MVP.

“I honestly didn’t know if they were going to choose me as the meet MVP, but I am so happy that they did,” Kow said.

Kow has since shifted his attention to California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) preliminaries, which begin today at Mt. SAC. Prelims determine who advances to the section finals.

Kow qualified for two individual events and two relays. Heading into the meet, the Wildcat senior is ranked first in the 200 and third in the 500.

“It’s crazy to think that I’m the fastest 200 swimmer in all of CIF,” Kow said.

Teammate Kyle Franks, sophomore, said of Kow’s record-breaking season: “I think it’s amazing that he broke the school record; breaking the record once is incredible, but breaking it twice is almost unheard of, but if anyone could do it, Brandon would be the one to do so.”