Regional champion Kigoos hosting BC’s

Richmond Kigoos will be well-represented at this week's B.C. Aquatics Championships at Watermania. They'll be competed in the speed swimming events beginning Friday.

Bob Frid photo
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Bouyed by another dominating victory at the Fraser South Regional Swim Championships, the Richmond Kigoos head into this week’s provincial meet at Watermania hoping to end a long drought.

Though they’re perennial summer swimming powers, it’s been 20 years since the Kigoos won a B.C. title. That was in 1991 when Super Nintendo was the hottest game console on the entertainment market and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.

It’s not like the Kigoos haven’t been close. They have frequently placed in the top three since, and last year finished second to the Vancouver Vikings.

“It would be nice to break the drought,” said head coach Benji Hutton. “We are consistently in the top three in our events and also boast the most relays of any team in the province. We have winning the provincial championships on our mind.”

The Kigoos will be competing for three days in speed swimming (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) against 55 other teams representing various regions throughout the province. They’ll be racing swimmers from such clubs as the Ladner Stingrays (Fraser South), Dawson Creek Seals (Cariboo), Castlegar Aquanauts (Kootenays) and Golden Dolphins (Okanagan).

Ranging in age from eight to 25 years old, the Kigoos will be competing in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and relay events. A deep talent pool is cause for optimism.

Despite his youth, Alex Ball, 12, shows remarkable consistency according to Hutton.

“He’s very focused and determined to do well in his events,” said Hutton, who attributes Ball’s success in part to a natural ability (which he appears to have inherited from his parents who were both fast swimmers in their own right as youth) as well as his coach Liam Finlay.

A pure sprinter who ranks first in the province in freestyle, Ball is particularly dominant over 50 metres. He placed first or second in each of his events at regionals among Division 3 boys. Fellow Division 3 swimmers Michael Ge and Jacob Lee also earned provincial qualifying times.

Division 2 swimmer Vincent Lee is another youngster also armed with great potential, said Hutton.

“He’s super-focused and got the mental side of things down well,” explained Hutton.

The ongoing success of the Kigoos, which were formed in 1959, appears even more certain with the success of the Division 1 boys, led by David Hyrman, Gabriel Lee, Michael Watson, Nicholas Kennedy and Kalvin Frid.

“They’re humble, but very fast, and work really well together,” said Hutton of the under-10s. “They keep taking time off their results at every meet.”

The Kigoos beat out seven other teams, including the Boundary Bay Bluebacks and Ladner Stingrays, to win the regional title. All told, 56 of the club’s swimmers qualified to compete in individual events and 38 in relay events at the provincial championships.

Provincial Qualifiers

•Ninety-four swimmers have qualified to represent the Richmond Kigoos in  individual and/or relay events at this week’s provincial championships at Watermania.

•Individual qualifiers include:

Division 1 Girls—Hope Chan, Ella Crawford, Macy Rittscher

Division 1 Boys—David Hyrman, Gabriel Lee, Michael Watson, Nicholas

Kennedy, Kalvin Frid

Division 2 Girls—Rachael Pham, Teaghan Frid, Tracy Chan, Elizabeth Kennedy

Division 2 Boys—Vincent Lee (placed 1st or 2nd in each event), Peiya Song

(placed 1st or 2nd in each event), Newton Szeto

Division 3 Girls—Dakota Chan, Tamara Yoshida, Roselyn Thom, Mila Lepsoe

Division 3 Boys—Alex Ball (placed 1st or 2nd in each event—provincial qualifying times), Michael Ge, Jacob Lee

Division 4 Girls—Elizabeth Suen (placed 1st in each event), Sydney Dick,

Kaitlin Watson

Division 4 Boys—Silas Tsui, Sam Sifton

Division 5 Boys—Chris Girard (placed 1st or 2nd in each event), Geoffrey

Ching, Ian Sifton, Brandon Lam, Frankie Lui

Division 6 Girls—Julia Morris (placed 1st or 2nd in each event ), Cassandra

Goh, Jodie Ng, Sarah Yoshida

Division 6 Boys—Nick Girard, Luke Gilmore, Cameron Howie, Daniel Yoshida

Division 7 Girls—Vanessa Lam, FanDi Gu

Division 7 Boys—Leo Lui, Liam Finlay

Division 8 Girls—Chelsea Robinson, Jenn Christie, Danna Batara

Division 8 Boys—Matt Girard, Kyle Lawrence, Benji Hutton, Kevin Hobbs

‘O’ Category 1 Girls—Jaqueline Lee, Frances Lee

‘O’ Category 1 Boys—Jeremy Fung

‘O’ Category 2 Girls—Christine Lee

‘O’ Category 2 Boys—Delbert Yip

•Relay qualifiers include:

Kyleigh MacLean, Jordon Lee, Apaar Sahota, Nicholas Pham, Yvette Ye,

Kalen Lacroix, Benjamin Kostiuk, Darren Ge, Nolan Lacroix, Daryl Prijateli,

Kaitlyn Lam, Zachary Lee, Alexis Silvera, Sophia Kostiuk, Dominic

Hyrman, Jevon Lai, Hayley Klimovich, Angela Vaughan, Carmen Li, Rebecca Howie, Anita Rudakov, Karen Nicholson, Amelia Ball, Eric Chan, Matthew Chen, Mark Qui, Simone Levesque, Sam Williams, Bruce Fairburn, Ryan Lam, Desmond Fung, Gareth Lam, Ekum Sahota, Andrew McCoy, Jodie Ng, Claire Christie, Sean Connacher and Jason Connacher.