Rapids jump into long course season at Deglau Invitational

The Richmond Rapids sent a squad of 77 swimmers to compete in the Jessica Deglau Invitational at UBC, hosted by the Vancouver Pacific Swim Club. The two-day meet was the year’s first opportunity for many to practice long course (50 metre) racing tactics. Through multiple sessions, the Rapids swimmers brought home 15 first place finishes and a combined total of 44 top-three placements. New standards were also set, with a few athletes coming under provincial and national cuts and breaking club records

Matthew Meuleman led the charge and won both the 400m freestyle and the 200m IM.  He was not alone in his success as Mauricio Soroco, William MacDougall, and Sarah Crawford finished in the top three in at least three events and achieved new provincial and national cuts.

MacDougall recorded a Junior National time in the 400 IM; Crawford with a Western National time and a victory in the 100 breaststroke, and Soroco with a Tier II provincial time in the 400 free.  

Soroco landed himself another Tier II provincial time, along with Shane Sagar, in the 100 butterfly.  Not to be outdone by his teammates, Tony Sun swam under the Tier II time in the 400 free.  

The single-A timed final portion of the meet was equally productive for Richmond athletes. 

Liam Pearce had an outstanding weekend by winning five events and completing his Tier I qualification requirements with the 100 and 50 free events. Sophia Raffai and Cindy Du also completed their Tier I qualification with the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly. 

In the medal count, Pearce was followed closely by Ken Stroud who walked away from the meet with four golds and a silver. In addition, he came in under the Tier I time in the 200 IM, requiring only one more event to be able to compete in the Tier I provincial championships in June. 

It was also exciting weekend for breaking records, as two swimmers took it upon themselves to raise the bar even higher for the club. 

Rebecca Dong and Joshua Wall both shattered records by significant amounts. Wall set new nine-and-10-year-old year old records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 400 IM. Eight-year-old Dong broke two 15-year old records in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM.

The full list of medalists from Jessica Deglau is as follows:

“A” timed finals

Gulzaar Bains – 100m back(2^nd), 200m back(3^rd), 200m breast(3^rd).

Renan Dobrer – 100m back(3^rd).

Liam Pearce – 50m free(1^st& Tier I), 100m free (1^st& Tier I), 200m free (1^st), 200m back (1^st), 100m fly (1^st).

Kingston Stone – 200m fly(3^rd).

Ken Stroud – 100m Back(1^st), 200m back (2^nd), 100m breast (1^st), 200m breast (1^st), 200m IM (1^st& Tier I).

Matthew Yim – 200m back (2^nd).

Cindy Du – 100m fly (3^rd& Tier I).

Winnia Jiang – 200m breast (2^nd).

Emily Li – 100m breast(3^rd).

Elyse Low – 100m breast (3^rd), 100m fly (3^rd).

Alejandra Marginet – 100m fly (1^st).

Chloe Rafer – 100m breast (2^nd).

Sophia Raffai – 100m back (2^nd), 100m breast (3^rd& Tier I).

Grace Wang – 200m breas t(1^st).

“AA” heats and finals

Tiger Chen – 100m breast (3^rd), 200m breast (2^nd).

William MacDougall – 100m back (2^nd), 200m back (3^rd), 200m breast (2^nd), 400m IM (2^nd& Jr Nat).

Matthew Meuleman – 400m free (1^st), 200m IM ( 1^st).

Mauricio Soroco – 400m free (3^rd), 100m fly (1^st& Tier II), 200m fly (2^nd).

Bryan Zhou – 50m free (3^rd).

Sarah Crawford – 100m breast (1^st& Western Nat), 200m breast (2^nd), 200m IM ( 2^nd).

Madeleine Leung – 200m fly (2^nd).

Cecilia Soroco – 100m free (3^rd).

Angela Zhuo – 100m breast (3^rd).