2025 VPSC Winter Invitational
- December 5-7, 2025
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- UBC Aquatic Centre
- SCM (25 meters)
- Results
- Results on Meet Mobile: “VPSC Winter Invitational”
Canadian junior standout and 2026 Texas commit Laon Kim took down a pair of National Age Group Records and set two more Alberta Provincial Records over the weekend at the VPSC Winter Invitational (SCM) in Vancouver.
Kim, 17, kicked the meet off by establishing a new Canadian NAG Record for 15-17 boys in the 200 free, clocking 1:43.00 in the final to break the super-suited mark of 1:43.64 set by Hassaan Abdel-Khalik back in 2009 at the British Gas Grand Prix.
Abdel-Khalik’s swim came on the lead-off leg of Canada’s ‘B’ relay at the meet, with the Canadian ‘A’ squad of Colin Russell, Stefan Hirniak, Brent Hayden and Joel Greenshields setting a new 4×200 free relay world record of 6:51.05.
Kim came into the meet with a best time of 1:44.09, set in late October at the Toronto leg of the World Cup.
| Abdel-Khalik, 2009 | Kim, October 2025 | Kim, December 2025 |
| 24.58 | 24.45 | 23.84 |
| 50.60 (26.22) | 51.23 (26.78) | 49.99 (26.15) |
| 1:17.07 (26.47) | 1:17.90 (26.67) | 1:16.59 (26.60) |
| 1:43.64 (26.37) | 1:44.09 (26.19) | 1:43.00 (26.41) |
The swim moves Kim up to #3 all-time among Canadians, only trailing Hayden and Russell. Outside of Kim, all of the top five set their bests in 2009.
All-Time Canadian Performers, Men’s 200 Freestyle (SCM)
- Brent Hayden, 1:40.80 – 2009
- Colin Russell, 1:42.87 – 2009
- Laon Kim, 1:43.00 – 2025
- Blake Worsley, 1:43.29 – 2009
- Hassaan Abdel-Khalik, 1:43.64 – 2009
On the final day of the meet, Kim added a second 15-17 NAG record in the 100 free, firing off a time of 47.32 to break Josh Liendo‘s previous record of 47.51 set at the 2019 Ontario Junior International meet.
Kim, who broke 48 seconds for the first time at the 2024 VPSC Winter Invite last December in 47.90, came into the meet with a best time of 47.83, set at the Toronto World Cup in late October.
Split Comparison
| Liendo, 2019 | Kim, October 2025 | Kim, December 2025 |
| 23.18 | 22.81 | 22.46 |
| 47.51 (24.33) | 47.83 (25.02) | 47.32 (24.86) |
In the historical rankings, Kim moves to #7 all-time among Canadians.
At the World Cup in Toronto, Liendo broke Hayden’s longstanding National Record in a time of 45.30.
All-Time Canadian Performers, Men’s 100 Freestyle (SCM)
- Josh Liendo, 45.30 – 2025
- Brent Hayden, 45.56 – 2009
- Ruslan Gaziev, 46.47 – 2025
- Yuri Kisil, 46.63 – 2020
- Markus Thormeyer, 46.86 – 2019
- Colin Russell, 46.94 – 2009
- Laon Kim, 47.32 – 2025
- Ali Sayed, 47.40 – 2024
- Antoine Sauve, 47.45 – 2025
- Joel Greenshields, 47.52 – 2008
Kim also set new Alberta Provincial Records for 17-year-old boys in the 50 free (22.02) and 100 fly (52.18), moving into #3 all-time in the 15-17 age group in both. He also set a new best of 3:47.73 in the 400 free, ranking #7 all-time in the Canadian 15-17 age group.
At the meet, Kim won every event he contested other than the 400 free, which was topped by Dutch swimmer Sander Crooijmans, who was representing Olympians Swimming and posted a time of 3:44.96 to rank 10th all-time in the Netherlands. Crooijmans swims in both the 400 and 800 free (7:51.28) also marked new Regio Oost (East Region) Records for the Dutch.
Another standout on the male side of the meet was UBC’s Justice Migneault, who set a new best time of 2:07.68 in the 200 breast to climb up to #7 all-time in Canadian history. He also won the 100 breast in 59.49 after clocking 59.20 in the prelims, just shy of his 59.02 PB.
On the female side, University of Calgary Swim Club’s Maxine Clark, a USC commit, won the 200 free (1:58.70), 400 free (4:10.98), 100 fly (59.32) and 200 fly (2:12.30), with the 400 free and 200 fly swims marking new PBs and ranking her 31st and 30th all-time in the girl’s 15-17 age group, respectively.
Her UCSC teammate Ranumi Eashwarage knocked four-tenths off her personal best time in the 50 free, clocking 24.85 to establish a new Alberta Provincial Record for 16-year-old girls. That swim shattered the previous mark of 25.21, set by Matea Gigovic in 2024, and ranks Eashwarage 5th all-time among 16-year-olds in Canada and 6th all-time in the 15-17 age group. A Florida commit, Eashwarage also set a best time of 54.60 in the 100 free, ranking her 13th all-time among 16-year-olds and 20th in the 15-17 age group.
OTHER RECORDS BROKEN
- Canadian Para Record – Fernando Lu, Men’s SM10 200 IM (2:10.63)
- Alberta Provincial Record – Kinnon Sen, Boys’ 15-Year-Old 50 Back (25.32)
- Alberta Provincial Record – University of Calgary Swim Club, Girls’ 13-14 4×100 Medley Relay (4:15.83)
- BC Provincial Record – Mark Aistov, Boys’ 13-14 100 Fly (54.76)
- BC Provincial Record – Minhyuk Park, Boys’ 15-17 100 fly (53.64)
- BC Provincial Record – Minhyuk Park, Boys’ 15-17 200 fly (1:56.29)
When you convert his time to yards
100 free SCY 42.63 with Power index 1
I’m excited to see these young Canadian swimmers competing in yards in the U.S.
As many athletes have already proven, they’ll swim much faster than what traditional swim-swam yard conversion time
For those interested in NCAA:
Laon – going to Texas next year
Maxine – going to USC next year
Matea – going to Tennessee next year
Ranumi – going to Florida in two years
Great post, thanks.
Why go to states?
Probably because of scholarship and training under one of world’s greatest coaches ever.
I mean who in their right mind would choose to train with Ryan Mallette with his track record
Abdel-Khalik’s NAGs were utterly insane. Incredible to finally see the last one downed
Not surprised it took the likes of Josh Liendo and Laon Kim to get the job done!
Freshman year broke his hand in prelims going 4:15 in the 500 at NCAA’s. Still swam at night to get the points for Michigan, ended up going a 4:55 in the A final.
Looks like he’s an ortho bro now, good for him, I’m sure the injury makes for a great story.
The craziest part is that I believe Hassaan Abdel-Khalik was the only swimmer to hold every record in every Olympic freestyle event in a particular age group (15-17 SC) simultaneously. Real ones know. RIP Kevin Thorburn!
I almost just had a heart attack lol. Read it quickly and missed that it was SCM. Great swims though!