Langley Short Course Invitational
Rapids Swimmers Final in Langley
November 21, 2011
It was a tough weekend of racing in Langley for Richmond Rapids swimmers but also a great learning experience for all the athletes involved. The two day heats and finals meet was great experience for novice and veteran competitors alike.
For the veterans it was a chance to train through a meet, endure some fatigue and gauge where they were in training. For Head Coach Robert Pettifer it was an opportunity to see just how tough his athletes were.
“It’s not easy arriving at the pool at seven in the morning, swimming four events, and then 8 hours later repeating them all over again. It takes mental discipline and a little bit of guts,” explains Pettifer. “Finals is only about two hours long and for them to reswim 4 events in that time period is very gruelling.”
For the novice swimmers it was a chance to experience what a heats and finals meet was like not to mention dealing with the multiple events. Rapids swimmer, Kevin Ye was tough as nails as he qualified his Canadian Age Group National time in the 200 breaststroke. This standard allows him to compete at this year’s championship in Calgary in July. Ye also had 100% personal bests throughout the weekend and collected gold medals in 4 events: 200 IM, 200 breaststroke, 400 IM, 100 breaststroke. As well as silver in the 200 fly, 4th in the 400 free and 5th in the 200 backstroke.
The Rapids set new meet records at the 5th Annual Langley Short Course Invitational. Meet records are the fastest times recorded during the history of the meet. Record setters were Matthew Crawford (10) in the 50 backstroke, Nicolaas Dekker (16) in the 200 butterfly, Ni Weng (10) in the 100 freestyle, Hau Li Fan (14) in the 400 IM, Cathy Ye (14) in the 100 fly and Kevin Ye (12) in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke.
Other Rapids medalists were: Amanda McCallum (9) bronze 50 backstroke. Ni Weng (10) gold 100 freestyle, bronze 50 free. Jeremy Fung (10) silvers 100 free/50 fly/50 back, bronze 200 IM/100 back. Thomas Huen (10) bronze 100 free/50 fly. Derek Wu (10) bronze 50 freestyle. Matthew Crawford (10) gold 100 free/50 fly/50 back, silver 100 back/50 free/200 IM, bronze 50 breaststroke. Arvin Chua (12) bronze 100 breaststroke. Brandon Crawford (13) bronze 200 IM. Hau-Li Fan (14) gold 400 IM, silver 200 fly, bronze 200 back. Paula Gosse (15) bronze 200 fly. Celine Hong (15) gold 100 backstroke. Leo Hong (14) bronze 200 breaststroke. Patrick Kell (14) gold 200 breaststroke. Nathan Muszynski (16) bronze 400 IM. Tiffany Orr (16) bronze 100 breaststroke. Maximilian Schaffler (13) silver 200 IM, bronze 100 back/400 IM, Serena Xu (13) silver 100 breaststroke. Cathy Ye (13) gold 100 fly, silver 200 fly. Mike Zhang (13) silver 100 backstroke.
Swimmers achieving 100% personal bests in both heats and finals with no disqualifications were: Nicholas Huen (12) and Jerry Tao (14).
Rapids new BC AAA Championship qualifiers was Nicholas Huen. This qualifying time allows him to compete at the BC Short Course championships in Surrey in March. New BC AA Championship qualifiers were Amanda McCallum and Ni Weng. AA championships are in Chillwack in February.
The Rapids have started a Masters swim program. It runs Monday through Thursday at Minoru Pool. For more information on Masters or any of the competitive programs click on www.richmondrapids.com or call 604-279-7946.
