The Richmond Rapids age group program is off to a strong start during the early stages of the 2014-15 season.
After only two meets, swimmers have already broken eight team records, and placed highly against other Lower Mainland Regional teams.
Last month’s VPSC Invitational was an aggregate competition. All swimmers were entered in the same nine events and then ranked according to their total time. The results put 16 Rapids swimmers in the top ten, with three category wins.
Newcomer Eric Tong came in first overall in the 11-year-old boys age group, setting six meet records and two club records in the process. Brian Yu won the 13-year old boys category, while teammate Ethan Chan placed seventh. Dini McIver was third for 12-year-old girls and re-wrote her own club record in the 50 breast. Cecilia Soroco was fifth overall in the 11-year-old category and Arvin Chua finished ninth in the 15-and-over boys division.
Jammy Zhou was at the top of the list for the 14-year-olds, just edging out his teammate Lionel Han by 1.55 seconds. Ben Zhuo (seventh), Ryan Murray (eighth) and Jason Lee (ninth) all managed to crack the top 10 in the same category.
Rapids swimmers also dominated the 12-year-old boys rankings. Top finishers included John Chiam (second), Dimitri Volchkov (fourth), Samuel Pei (fifth), Darren Ge (sixth), and Joshua Quon (ninth). Chiam also broke the club record in the 50 butterfly.
At the UBC Odlum Brown Colleges’ Cup, Kevin Ye, Jerry Liu, Serena Xue, and Wendy Yang competed as a part of a Lower Mainland Regional All-Star Team.
Pitted against college athletes, all four Rapids were able to qualify for multiple finals. Yang broke four club records, replacing two of her own from just weeks prior.
In addition, 15 Rapids swimmers were recently selected to attend the LMR Regional Camp, hosted by Swim BC.
Athletes were selected based on regionally high-ranking 200 IM performances the previous year. Rapids athletes represent a third of the invitees to the camp, out of the seven teams attending.
With the Rapids’ own FastSwim just over a month away, the short course season is off to a fantastic start for the Watermania based club.
