SEASAC Senior Hong Kong 2024

Stamford American International School

DAY 1 - JUST THE BEGINNING

SEASAC Senior Swim Meet took place at the Canadian International School in Hong Kong. Landing after a 4hr flight, the cool 20c conditions startled some students and were something different for many of the swimmers to experience.

After a busy warm-up, a short and sweet 20 minutes, Jaiden took to the water first in the 400 freestyle. With such excitement to get going, Jaiden was out strong, perhaps a little too strong. His time of 4:36 reflected such. Nevertheless, he came back with a smile on his face knowing what he needed to achieve next time and some team points on the board. 😊🏆

Seth was in action in the 200 backstroke. His “newly found” best stroke on his back saw him crush his personal best by over 4 seconds with a 2:25 to finish 6th. 🚀

The boys 4x100 freestyle relay was eagerly awaited. Lang was first off and in typically strong fashion was one of the first to turn at the 50m mark. He handed over in a personal best time of 58.18 to Jaiden. Knowing he had some speed, Jaiden set off in chase of the leaders; he split 57.31 well under his lifetime best!

Next in the pool, Andrew, who has been a little under the weather recently, had to endure the waves of the previous swimmers. The pool was choppy by now. Yet again, another of the swimmers was under their personal best in 1:03. Last, but buoyed by his earlier backstroke success, Seth dived in to finish with style. His 56.16 shows he clearly has form. The relay team finished 9th. 🏁👏

DAY 2 - FLY OR DIE!

Day 2 saw Jaiden race in his “favorite”, the 200 butterfly 🦋 . After yesterday’s excited first 50, he had it well under control today. A strong 💪 first lap in 29 saw him hold pace with his rivals. At the 100m mark, he was only a body length down. As the race progressed, Jaiden held on to his stroke rate and almost pipped the leader on the finish. Less than a second between them, 2:17 was an outstanding swim and a well-deserved silver medal 🥈 at a meet of this level.

Next, Altan and Lang took on the 50 breaststroke. Altan set a large pb in 36, while Lang also had a significant drop. He finished 13th, just 0.06 outside of a finals swim.

Andrew, Altan, Lang, and Seth had all entered the 100 freestyle, all hoping to better their times. Andrew was only 0.3 over his best, a great swim considering he was a little under the weather. Altan came close to breaking the minute barrier. His breath cost him on the last stroke, but a massive personal best. Lang showed some guts when he was out strong. He also set a PB in 58.31. It was Seth, though, that had final bragging rights, slipping into the B final with a massive PB in 56.18.

In the 50 butterfly, Jaiden clocked a new PB of 28.80, despite finishing extremely close to the wall! 🏊‍♂️

The evening finals were a chance for Seth to try and better his time. He swam a 58.28, proving that his earlier swim was no fluke. A credible 12th place finish with the 6 people in his final separated by less than 0.70… super close!

The boys relay was special. Seth was out fast in his backstroke with a 1:06 to give the boys a great lead. Lang was super fast on the first 50 breaststroke, almost as fast as his individual 50m race earlier in the day! He clocked a 1:11. Next into the water, Jaiden was close to the minute mark with a 1:01 lifetime best and equally as fast over his first 50m as his individual 50m! Then it was over to Altan on the freestyle, proving he could go 59. Outstanding result with an 8th place relay!

DAY 3 - IM FEELING GREAT

Day 3 saw Seth first up and he delivered on his 200m IM in a time of 2:24.93 to finish 9th.

Andrew was representing the school in 50 backstroke. His time of 34.55 was a new personal best for him. 🤝

Jaiden made the 100m butterfly final with new lifetime best of 1:02.77. Pleased with that Swim he has another chance to repeat the effort for the final. 🦋

Altan showed a clean set of heels to his rivals in his heat for 100m breaststroke. A massive PB of 1:22 was a great reward for his effort and composure. In the same event, Lang pushed hard to be just 0.01 slower than his lifetime best of 1:11.96. His time saw him finish 13th, agonizingly close to a finals place. 😥

In the 50m freestyle, Andrew was able to post a 28.90. Altan set a new personal best of 27.56. Lang and Seth both broke the 26 barrier for the first time is a 25.91 and 25.61 respectively. Seth was just outside a finals place finishing 13th overall. 😥

In the 200m freestyle Andrew had to swim a controlled race as his rivals went out so very fast. He remained in control and was just splits outside his best in 2:27.97

It was time for Jaiden’s fly B Final and he did not disappoint. He set yet another PB to finish 8th overall with another 1:02. The final swim for the boys was the 4x50 Freestyle final. Seth clocked 25.65, Jaiden 26.23, Altan 26.77 and Lang 25.67 for a 10th place finish, adding further points to the board.

DAY 4 - RELAY REALLY?

On Day 4, the final day, the boys were able to benefit from a sleep in and a leisurely breakfast as they checked out of their hotel. On Sunday morning they just had the 4 x 50m medley relay to focus on. Seth set a blistering pace on the backstroke leg with a 30.60 split, next Lang pushed his physical boundaries in 31.28 for the breaststroke. If he had swum it like this he would have made a final in the individual, it was clear the boys were giving everything. Jaiden raised his stroke rates to unbelievable levels to go 28.44, it might not have been efficient but it was certainly full effort! Lastly Andrew was determined to rival his teammate Altan. Adamant that he could go 26 he went chasing and was duly awarded a 26.88. The Stamford boys did themselves proud finishing in 8th position with a 1:57.

Everyone has been swimming superbly well and boldly representing the school.

The boys team finished 10th school overall, despite being represented by only a small number of individuals. Jaiden collected 15 points, while Seth collected 7 points and the rest of the team points were collected from relays.

Jaiden (x3) and Seth (x2) swam 5x Top 10 swims between them. They both competed in a B Final each. Jaiden picked up the sole silver medal of the trip. It terms of performance we couldn’t ask for more. Seth, Lang and Altan broke their lifetime personal bests on every occasion they raced. Overall the team managed an outstanding 17 PBs from 20 races, a whopping 85%! The relays were no different, all 4 relays went better than their predicted entry time and placed inside the top 10 rankings. A worthy mention to Lang who missed out on two finals by the smallest of margin in 13th.

With some spare time left in the afternoon, the boys were treated to a trip downtown and enjoyed a 'hotpot' at a local restaurant. Memories in teh making.