Local Swim Meet Brings Great Swimmers Together Thanks to Some Great Help

May 5, 2012

                This year’s West Coast Open Swim Meet hosted by the Richmond Rapids was a great success.  Four-hundred and fifty swimmers from around the Lower Mainland Region competed at Watermania this past weekend.

                This has been the club’s third major meet of the year with one more in the wings (BC Provincial Swimming  Championships) in July.

                “Our volunteer organizers, staff and membership have done a phenomenal job in allowing us to keep bidding for these high level meets and still be able to host our own annual competitions.  Without some key people these events would never happen.  The club is very lucky to be able to do this each year,” says Robert Pettifer, the Rapids Head Coach. 

                The club is home to over 300 swimmers from ages 5-18 years and teaches swimming skills to those kids throughout the competitive swimming spectrum.   With two pools and a massive membership (the largest in BC of any single club) Head Coach Pettifer is able create a culture that embraces these sorts of events.  A swim meet takes hundreds of man hours to organize and run and the Rapids due to the number of meets they host have become experts in this area.

                Rapids swimmers continue to improve personal bests, achieve new standards and win events.  The meet saw two new swimmers achieve their BC AA championship qualifying times.  Tiger Chen (10) and Jammy Zhou (12) are now able to compete at this year’s AA champs in Victoria.

Top 8 finishers for the Rapids were:
Austin Berry (12) gold 100 fly, silver 100 back, 4^th 400 free/50 free
Sam Bhandal (12) 6^th 200 fly
Kyle Bower (17) 5^th 200 fly, 6^th 400 IM
Anthony Chan (11) 7^th 200 fly
Ethan Chan (11) 7^th 100 back, 8^th 200 fly
Kyle Chan (12) 4^th 50 fly, 5^th 200 free, 6^th 100 breaststroke, 7^th 200 IM/200 free
Tiger Chen (10) gold 100 breast, bronze 50 breast, 4^th 100 breast, 6^th 50 back
Arvin Chua (13) bronze 100 fly,4^th 50 fly,  6^th 100 free, 7^th 200 free
Brandon Crawford (14) gold 50 fly/100 fly, silver 200 fly, 4^th 200 IM/200 back/400 IM, 6^th 50 back/100 back, 8^th 200 breast
Matthew Crawford (10) gold 400 free/100 back/200 IM/50 breast/200 free, silver 200 fly, bronze 200 breast
Sarah Crawford (8) 4^th 50 fly, 6^th 50 back
Brandon De Costa (16) silver 50 back/100 free, 9^th 50 fly
Nicolaas Dekker (16) 4^th 200 breast, 5^th 200 IM, 6^th 100 fly/200 fly, 8^th 100 breast
William Dekker (12) bronze 100 fly, 4^th 200 fly
Jeremy Fung (10) gold 200 fly, silver 400 free/200/50 breast, bronze 100 back, 5^th 200 breast

Run Qian Gong (9) 8^th 50 back
Paula Gosse (16) 6^th 200 back, 7^th 200 IM
Angela Gu (12) bronze 100/200 fly, 4^th 400 IM/100 free, 5^th 200 IM
Celine Hong (15) gold 200 breast/200 IM/400 IM, silver 200 back, 4^th 200 fly
Jack Hong (17) 7^th 50 fly/50 free, 9^th 100 fly
Leo Hong (14) silver 200 breast, 6^th 100 breast, 7^th 50 fly/200 IM
Ray Hong (8) 5^th 50 back, 7^th 50 breast
Adrian Hsing (12) gold 100 back, silver 200 free/200 back, bronze 50 free, 4^th 400 IM, 5^th 200 IM, 6^th 400 free, 8^th 200 breast
Nicholas Huen (13) 7^th 100 fly, 8^th 200 back
Thomas Huen (11) 6^th 200 free
Michael Jakac-Sinclair (15) bronze 50 free, 7^th 100 fly/200 free
Liam Kell (16) silver 50 breast, bronze 100 breast, 8^th 200 breast
Patrick Kell (14) gold 200 breast, silver 50 breas, 4^th 100 breast, 6^th 200 fly, 8^th 400 IM
Jerry Liu (13) silver 100 free/100 fly, bronze 50 back, 4^th 100 back/50 free
Mark Liu (10) gold 50 back, silver 100 back, 4^th 50 breast/200 breast, 5^th 200 IM, 6^th 200 breast
Megan Loshinen (10) 4^th 50 breast, 6^th 200 free, 8^th 50 fly
Ryan Murray (12) gold 200 free, silver 50 back, 5^th 400 IM
Nathan Muszynski (17) 4^th 200 IM, 5^th 200 back/50 back, 6^th 200 breast/200 free
Samuel Pei (9) 6^th 50 fly
Joshua Quon (10) bronze 200 fly, 8^th 100 back/200 free
Richard Rakchtis (12) 4^th 200 free, 5^th 50 back, 6^th 50 fly, 8^th 400 free/100 free
Eva Ryder (14) 5^th 200 IM/100 breast, 8^th 200 breast
Maximilian Schaffler (13) silver 200 back, bronze 200 IM/100 back/200 fly/200 free/400 IM, 7^th 400 free
Cecilia Soroco (9) 6^th 50 fly, 7^th 50 free, 8^th 100 back/50 breast
Mauricio Soroco (10) silver 50 free, 5^th 50 fly
Isabelle Sy (16) 6^th 50 back, 7^th 200 back
Ekatarina Vinarskaia (16) 7^th 200 fly
Dimitri Volchkov (10) 5^th 50 breast, 6^th 100 back/50 back, 8^th 200 breast
Nicole Welsh (14) bronze 200 fly/100 breast, 4^th 200 IM, 5^th 400 IM, 6^th 200 breast
Nini Weng (11) 7^th 50 fly/100 fly, 8^th 200 IM
William Weng (14) 6^th 50 free, 7^th 100 free
Serena Xue (14) gold 200 breast, silver 200 fly, 100 breast, 4^th 400 IM/50 breast
Cathy Ye (14) gold 100 fly/200 fly, silver 400 IM, bronze 200 IM, 5^th 50 fly, 6^th 400 free/200 back
Kevn Ye (12) gold 400 free/200 breast/100 free/50 breast/50 free/200 fly/100 breast/400 IM, bronze 200 back
Artur Yushko (10) 4^th 100 back/50 back, 5^th 200 free, 6^th 200 IM/50 breast
Ada Zhang (13) 6^th 50 breast
Kevin Zheng (15) 4^th 400 IM, 5^th 100 breast/100 fly, 8^th 200 back
Selina Zhou (13)6^th 200 IM
Steven Zhou (12) silver 100 free/100 fly, bronze 100 breast/200 fly, 4^th 200 breast, 5^th 50 free/200 free
Benjamin Zhou (12) 7^th 50 back

                The Richmond Rapids will be hosting an Introduction to Competitive Swimming Summer Camp during the month of July.  For more information on the Rapids Swim Club’s programs click on www.richmondrapids.com or call 604-275-7946.