It’s been a busy November for the Richmond Rapids.
At the Odlum Brown College Cup hosted by UBC, four of the club’s senior national athletes competed against teams from top Canadian universities. Amanda McCallum, Samuel Pei, Matthew Meuleman, and Matthew Crawford swam under the banner of Team West with other top high school athletes in both individual and relay events.
This was the first heats-and-finals exposure for anyone in the club this year, and all four went hard in the morning.
Crawford broke through with his sprinting, placing seventh in the 50 backstroke with a time of 26.79. He also led out his medley relay with an even faster time of 26.56.
In the 200 freestyle, Meuleman swam into fifth place in finals with a time of 1:53.86 and also was fifth in both of his relays.
Pei did a great job in the 400 freestyle, narrowly missing going sub-4:00 but setting a club record in the process. He also broke the club record in the 200 free, going 1:54.62.
McCallum anchored the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay and got the bronze.
On the same weekend, the Rapids hosted the first distance meet of the season. Ninety-four athletes from all levels of the competitive program participated in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyle.
These distance meets allow swimmers to develop essential skills such as resiliency, focus, long-term competency, and plan execution. The significant upside to these time trials is that it allows all levels of swimmer to work on these longer races, where they might otherwise be cut from entries due to time constraints.
In the 400, Nick Kennedy dropped 35 seconds (4:44.82) placing third overall. In the 800 free, Will MacDougall, Ethan Chan, Mauricio Soroco, Bryan Zhou, and Lily Douglas, proudly took five of the top six places.
Finally, in the 1500, all six Rapids entered were courageous first time swims.
In total, the club had 54 best times and 15 first-time swims in the distance events. MacDougall dropped 56 seconds in his 800 free with a new club record.
The following weekend, the Rapids sent a team of 43 athletes to compete at Bennett Cup in Saanich.
Friday finals started off with the 4x50 freestyle relay.
The boys 11&U team placed second, and the girls placed third. The 16&O girls team of Cecilia Soroco, Sarah Crawford, Lauren Leung, and Angela Zhuo placed second, breaking a 14-year-old club record in the process.
In the individual events, MacDougall started off Friday finals with a tie for bronze in the 200 backstroke and new club record.
Mingjun He, Matthew Meuleman, and Joshua Wall placed first, second, and third respectively in the 100 butterfly.
McCallum and McDougall then both finished third in the 200 IM. Meuleman earned another silver in the 100 freestyle. Mingjun He placed third, going sub-60 for the first time.
In the 200 breaststroke, Christina Tan and Grace Cui placed second and third. Joshua Wall got on the podium as well, earing second place.
On Saturday, Matthew Crawford took the silver in the 100 backstroke. Meuleman and McDougall continue to show dominance in the freestyle with a second and third place finish in the 200m freestyle.
In the 1500, MacDougall won the gold, setting another club record. At the 800, MacDougall’s split was just six seconds over his record-setting 800 time from the previous weekend.
In the 100 backstroke, Sarah Crawford was third, Joshua Wall second, and Christina Tan won the gold.
The Rapids were particularly successful in the 200 fly that followed. Madeleine Leung and David Maibaum, both from PAG, took home the bronze. Wall got his second medal of the night with a silver. Matthew Crawford and Mingjun He won the event in their respective age groups. Rounding out the night, Lauren Leung, Sarah Crawford, Corrina Siu, and Angela Zhuo broke the 15-16 200 medley relay club record.
The individual events of the Sunday began with the 50 butterfly.
Ethan Chan and Joshua Wall placed third and second in their age groups. Mingjun He finished his sweep of the butterfly events and won the gold. He would later go on to win the 50 backstroke as well. In the 16 & over category, Matthew Crawford came in third. Amanda McCallum and Madeleine Leung each took a silver in the 400 IM. Joshua Wall and William McDougall placed second and third.
The 50 breaststroke saw seven Rapids on the podium. Angela Zhuo and the McCallum sisters each placed third. Christina Tan, Joshua Wall, and Mindy Shi placed second in their categories. In the women’s 14-15, Sarah Crawford took first place.
The final relay of the meet was the 4x50 mixed medley relay, where girls and boys swim together on the same team. The Rapids scored 3 podium finishes with a bronze in the 11&U, a bronze in the 12-13, and a silver in the 16&O categories.
The Rapids will now begin shift training focus to preparing for FastSwim Classic in mid-December.
