The Richmond Rapids finished second overall at this summer’s Long Course Provincial Championships.
The men’s team again placed first, continuing a long streak of wins. The women, in one of the highest finishes ever, came in fifth.
The Rapids took 53 qualified athletes to the meet, the largest team ever produced by the program. Success came at all levels, from first time to senior.
Jessy Barton-Jensen qualified for her first-ever provincial final, finishing sixth in the 100 backstroke. Will MacDougall also had his first podium swim. The 11-year-old earned a bronze in the 200 individual medley (IM) at AAAs, dropping nearly five seconds in finals from a six-second improvement in the morning.
Sarah Crawford also earned her first provincial medal ever, placing third in the 11-year-old final of the 200 breaststroke, finishing over six seconds faster than her entry time.
The weekend before at AA Championships, 10-year-old Isabella Villasenor placed third in the 200 back, her first medal at the event.
The Rapids swept the 12-13 sprint backstrokes, with both Matthew Crawford and Amanda McCallum winning the 50 and 100-meter distances. McCallum lowered her own club records in the process. She also captured silver in the 200 and continued to break club records in a number of events — the 50 free, 200 free, and 200- and 400-meter IMs.
One of the crowning achievements of the weekend came in the Boys 11-12 4x50 freestyle relay. The Rapids not only won the event, but also set two national records in the process.
Eric Tong, after setting the provincial record in the 50-freestyle a month before, broke the national mark by two tenths on his opening leg. After the lead, Jonathan Wang, Run Qian Gong, and Samuel Pei all went well under their seed times and held off a charging Pacific Coast team to break the national record.
Three days later, the same boys nearly set another, but this time were out-touched by Pacific Coast. Both teams were under the national record by a second. On that relay, Jonathan Wang’s backstroke leg set the club record. Samuel Pei was on breaststroke for that relay, and in the individual event. He too set the club record.
Pei, Wang, MacDougall, and Tong took bronze in the 4x200 freestyle as well, which put all three relays on the podium.
Tong also broke the provincial record in the 100 free, a record older than he is, and only a half a second off the national record time. His club records also extended to the 200 freestyle and 50 fly.
Three other Rapids relays were successful in breaking club records: the 14 & under boys freestyle relay, which won gold, and the women’s senior 200 freestyle and medley relays, which were both silver.
The girls 12 & under medley relay, made up by Vivian Liang, Jesse McIver, Amanda McCallum, and Sarah Crawford, picked up a bronze. The 14 & under boys won the medley, while the senior boys took the silver.
The stroke 50’s were a big source of scoring swims for the Rapids.
John Chiam and Eric Tong started the meet by going 1-2 in the 50 fly. Both boys were on the podium for the 50 freestyle as well.
This time Tong came out on top and lowered his national record from the relay. Chiam and Sarah Crawford were again on the podium, with silvers in the 50 breaststroke.
Nicolaas Dekker was again atop the podium, winning all three butterfly distances, the 100 breast, and the bronze in the 400 IM and the 200 breast, after a big comeback drive on the last 50. Dekker was unrested for the meet, still preparing for Canadian nationals.
Wendy Yang, Morgan Mark, Kevin Ye and Serena Xue were also headed to nationals, after having their own successes at provincials.
Yang was successful in a series of sprint events: gold in the 50 fly, which she also won at Westerns in February, silver in the 50 free, and bronze in the 100 fly. She also set six club records in both sprint distances for butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle.
Xue medaled in all three breaststroke events — silver in the 50 and 200-meter distances, and bronze in the 100.
Rounding out the list of club records was Devon Mark, with a pair in the 200 Free and 400 Free. As for new qualifiers, both Jammy Zou and Ryan Murray qualified for Western Nationals, while Zou also qualified for Age Group Nationals.
The Rapids coaching staff would like to specifically thank the team of chaperones who provided full meal and snack service to the 53 athletes at the meet. Whether it was grilled chicken or ice-filled kiddie pools, the Rapids chaperones were on top of their athletes needs with style enough to be the envy of the province.
