Rapids’ 12 Unders Qualify 5 to Provincials

June 27, 2012

                It was a great weekend for the Richmond Rapids’ 12 & under program.  The team sent 19 swimmers to the BC AA Championships in Victoria.  The 320 participant meet held at the Saanich Commonwealth Place was a place of magic as the Rapids put through 5 new BC Provincial Championships. 

                For Coach Drew McClure it was a validation of the training that was done over the course of the season. 

                “This is the culmination of the season for these swimmers.  The work they’ve put in and the time they’ve committed to their goals has really shown through,” says McClure.  “It will be a great to be able to build next year’s program off all the success that the kids have been having.”

                The goal of the meet is to provide a stepping stone to the BC AAA Provincial Championships that are being held in Richmond July 5-8 at Watermania.   So far the Rapids have qualified over 40 athletes to the meet.

                New qualifiers this weekend were Angela Gu (12), Dimitri Volchkov (10), Derek Wu (11), Nini Weng (11) and Mark Liu (10).

                The Rapids also had numerous finalists at this past weekend’s event.  Finalists were swimmers who raced to one of the top 8 positions in their event.
Sam Bhandal (12) gold 1500 free, silver  400 free, 4^th 200 fly
Anthony Chan (11) gold 400 IM, silver 400 free, bronze 200 free, 6^th 200 back, 7^th 100 back
William “BearCat” Dekker (12) silver 100 fly/400 IM, bronze 200 fly, 4^th 400 free/200 IM
Samantha Gosel (14) silver 200 free, 7^th 100 back/100 free, 8^th 200 back
Angela Gu (12) gold 100 fly/200 fly, bronze 400 IM, 7^th 100 free
Jessica Jones (13) 5^th 100 breast/200 breast, 8^th 800 free
Chris Lam (13) gold 200 IM/50 free, 4^th 100 free/200 back, 5^th 200 free
Mark Liu (10) bronze 100 back, 4^th 200 back                                                                                                                                                               Alix Main (14) gold 100 free, bronze 50 free, 4th 800 free, 5th 200 free, 7th 400 free/100 breast
Jerry Tao (14) silver 200 fly, 4^th 100 fly, 6^th 200 breast, 7^th 100 breast
Alex Tsui (17) silver 200 free, 5^th 400 free, 8^th 100 free
Dimitri Volchkov (10) 4^th 100 back
Nini Weng (11) bronze 100 free, 4^th 50 free, 5^th 200 IM, 6^th 100 back/200 back
William Weng (14) gold 100 breast/200 breast, silver 200 IM/50 free/100 free, 5^th 200 back, 8^th 100 back
Derek Wu (11) gold 100 breast, 5^th 200 IM, 7^th 100 free/200 breast
Artur Yushko (10) 4^th 1500 free, 8^th 200 back
Selina Zhou (13) silver 200 IM, 4^th 800 free/100 fly/400 free, 7^th 200 free
Benjamin Zhou (12) 4^th 100 back, 8^th 50 free/200 IM
Jamie Zou (12) silver 100 breast, 6^th 50 free, 8^th 100 back

                Swimmers who achieved 100% personal bests with no disqualifications were: Sam Bhandal, Anthony Chan,  Angela Gu, Chris Lam, Dimitri Volchkov, Nini Weng, Derek Wu, Jamie Zou.

                The Rapids relays also threw down, showing the strength of a united team. 

200 Free Relay: 12&U Boys - Silver, 14&U Girls - Silver

200 Medley Relay: 12&U Boys - Gold, 14&U Girls - Silver

                The team will be hosting the BC AAA Championships from July 5-8.  Preliminaries run from 8:30-1:00pm and finals from 5:30-8:30pm each night.  The meet plays host to the fastest age group swimmers in the province.

                The Richmond Rapids will be offering summer training for swimmers who have completed Red Cross level 7 or greater.  For more information click on www.richmondrapids.com or call 604-275-7946.