Laon Kim Resets Three Canadian 13-14 NAG Records At Odlum Brown Colleges Cup

2022 Odlum Brown Colleges Cup

• November 5-6, 2022
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• UBC Aquatic Center
• SCM (25 meters)
• Results

Competing against a field primarily made up of university swimmers, 14-year-old Laon Kim put on an incredibly impressive display over the weekend at the Odlum Brown Colleges Cup in Vancouver.

Kim, who was competing for the BC All-Star squad (TBC) made up of club swimmers, took massive chunks of time off two Canadian National Age Group Records for 13-14 boys (SCM), doing so in the 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle, and lowered a third mark in the 200 free that he had initially broken a few weeks ago.

On the opening night of finals on Saturday, Kim, who swims for Hyack Swim Club, won a razor-thin battle with fellow TBC swimmer Peter Huang in the 200 fly, clocking 2:00.93 to take more than two seconds off the Canadian NAG record of 2:03.02, set by Etobicoke’s Ray Yang in 2015.

Huang, 17, was just six one-hundredths back of Kim in 2:00.99, just shy of his best time set last December (2:00.20).

Kim came into the meet with a personal best time of 2:05.80, set in October 2021, and got down to 2:03.36 in the prelims before his big swim in the final.

Split Comparison – 200 fly

RACE VIDEO – 200 FLY (FINAL)

In the 400 free, Kim first broke the record in the prelims, touching in 3:56.77 to knock off a 33-year-old mark set by Manta Swim Club’s Jamie Stevens (3:58.32) way back in 1989.

Kim then got down to 3:54.19 in the final, putting him more than four seconds under a record that was set 19 years before he was even born. He came in with a PB of 4:00.15 set this past June.

Split Comparison – 400 free

Splits for Stevens’ swim from 1989 are unavailable.

In that race, University of Calgary’s Nathan Versluys pulled away on the last 100 to win in 3:52.78, while Kim held off a late charge from UBC’s Blake Tierney (3:54.39) to take second.

RACE VIDEO – 400 FREE (PRELIMS)

RACE VIDEO – 400 FREE (FINAL)

On Sunday, Kim reset his newly-minted 200 free NAG record on two occasions, first clocking 1:51.02 in the prelims and then 1:50.85 in the final.

At the PSW Fall Invitational in mid-October, Kim registered a time of 1:51.29 to break the 22-year-old NAG record of 1:51.54 set by two-time Canadian Olympian Tobias Oriwol in 2000.

Prior to that swim three weeks ago, Kim’s PB stood at 1:53.37 from February 2022.

Split Comparison – 200 free

Splits for Oriwol’s swim from 200 are unavailable.

At that same meet in October, Kim also set a new NAG record in the 100 free, clocking 50.48, and he also holds the 200 IM mark at 2:04.15, so his total is now up to five individual SCM records in the 13-14 category.

RACE VIDEO – 200 FREE (FINAL)

In addition to the events in which he set new NAG records, Kim also went 2:05.86 in the 200 IM and put up respective times of 23.47 in the 50 free and 51.45 in the 100 free leading off TBC relays.

The 50 free swim marked a new best time and moves him up to fourth in the 13-14 rankings, with the NAG record sitting at 23.36 from Javier Acevedo.

These performances in the short course pool come on the heels of a breakout summer for Kim that included him setting the long course NAG record in the 800 free.

OTHER MEET HIGHLIGHTS

The UBC Thunderbirds came out on top in the team race for both men and women, winning a pair of close battles with the University of Calgary.

The UBC women were led by first-year Eloise Allen, who picked up a trio of wins in the 50 free (26.01), 100 breast (1:08.08) and 200 breast (2:29.19).

Calgary’s Rebecca Smith, who is gearing up for the Short Course World Championships next month, earned three individual wins in the 100 free (53.56), 200 free (1:54.50) and 100 IM (1:00.62) while also taking second in the 100 fly (59.82).

Smith, 22, was the silver medalist at the 2021 SC Worlds in the 200 free, having set a new Canadian Record of 1:52.24.

On the men’s side, UBC had Hugh McNeill pick up three victories in the 100 back (54.33), 200 back (1:54.60) and 400 IM (4:18.63), while Justice Migneault set a pair of meet records en route to wins in the 100 IM (54.34) and 200 IM (2:00.04).

Top 5 Team Scores – Women

1. UBC – 1064
2. Calgary – 991
3. Team BC – 791
4. Victoria – 689
5. Manitoba – 385

Top 5 Team Scores – Men

1. UBC – 1096.5
2. Calgary – 1016.5
3. Team BC – 649.5
4. Victoria – 510.5
5. Alberta – 494.5