Led by phenomenal showings from Joshua Kim and Bailey Herbert, a group of Langley Olympians entered the chlorinated waters of the UBC Aquatic Centre last weekend to open their short course season.
A large contingent from the local swim club travelled to UBC for the 2014 VPSC Invitational Meet.
All 11 & over swimmers competed in nine events over two days, accumulating aggregate scores for each age category.
The 10 & under athletes swam eight events over the two days.
This first short course (25 metre pool) meet of the season was hosted by Vancouver Pacific Swim Club.
LOSC swimmers competed against the best age group swimmers in the Lower Mainland, with more than 370 swimmers from 11 clubs taking part.
LOSC swimmers raced exceptionally well and came away with a large number of trophies, a meet record, club records, and best times.
Joshua Kim won the first place trophy for 12-year-old boys, winning five events while coming second in four events.
Joshua also broke six club records in the 100m freestyle (1:00.20), 50m breaststroke (34.41 seconds), 50m backstroke (33.42), 100m breaststroke (1:14.23), 50m fly (30.74), and 100m IM (1:07.80).
Bailey Herbert won the first place trophy for 11-year-old girls.
Bailey won every single one of her events while setting a new meet record in the 100m IM, touching the final wall in 1:14.62.
Luke Steward-Beinder, nine, came second overall in the nine & under boys’ category. Luke also came away with his first BC AA time standard in the 50m fly.
A large number of Olympians placed in the top three in the individual events, with many of them scoring overall in the top 10 in each age group.
Individual placings were:
1st Place
Bailey Herbert, 11, in the 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke, 100m fly, 100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 50m fly, and 100m IM; and
Joshua Kim, 12, in the 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, and 100m IM.
2nd Place
Reagen Bedard, 11, in the 50m breaststroke;
Mackenzie Dong, 14, in the 100m fly and 100m breaststroke;
Joshua Kim in the 100m freestyle, 100m fly, 100m backstroke, and 50m fly;
Hugh McNeill, 11, in the 100m backstroke; and
Severen Parr, 10, in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle.
3rd Place
Reagen Bedard in the 100m breaststroke;
Mackenzie Dong in the 50m breaststroke;
Josie Field, 12, in the 100m fly;
Brayden Herbert, 10, in the 50m backstroke;
Hugh McNeill in the 100m freestyle and 100m fly;
Severen Parr in the 50m fly; and
Luke Stewart-Beinder, 9, in the 100m freestyle, 50m fly, and 100m IM.
Mia Goretic, 11, achieved 100 per cent best times along with a pair of B.C. AAA qualifying times in the 50m fly and 100m backstroke.
Ryan Hunter, 11, and John Park, 10, also swam to 100 per cent best times at the meet.
Speaking about his team of young swimmers, Olympians head coach Brian Metcalfe said, “This was an awesome start to our season. It’s always a great confidence boost for so many of our swimmers to come out of an early meet with so many best times, qualifying times, records and placings. We are looking forward to what we can now achieve at our next meet and indeed for the rest of the season.â€
Olympians’ seniors face B.C.’s elite
While the young age group swimmers were at UBC, a team of Langley’s top senior swimmers were on Vancouver Island, competing in the B.C. Senior Circuit meet.
The meet was at Saanich Commonwealth Place and hosted by Pacific Coast Swimming.
The meet attracted top senior B.C. swimmers, and Langley swimmers raced hard and produced some strong swims against tough competition.
The Olympians’ top swimmer was Hillary Metcalfe, who swam to top spot in 200m IM to go along with an eighth-place result in the 100m breaststroke.
Chelsea Borrowdale, 15, placed third in the 400m IM and sixth in the 200m breaststroke.
Renae Ledoux, 15, placed fifth in the 50m breaststroke, and seventh in both the 200m and 100m breaststroke swims.
Robyn Nakano was fifth in the 50m fly, seventh in the 100m fly, and eighth in the 200m fly.
Justin Schramm, 16, finished sixth in both the 400m freestyle and 200m fly events.
Olympians registration is ongoing. Visit the team’s website by clicking here, or call 604-532-5257 for more information.