Kigoos pool resources at provincial meet

Richmond's Alex Ball was a standout at the B.C. Summer Swimming Championships hosted by the Kigoos.

Bob Frid photo
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Remember the old adage you likely learned in elementary school? The one about practice making perfect?

The Richmond Kigoos showed last week, at the 53rd annual B.C. Summer Swimming Championships at Watermania, there’s a lot of truth to it.

“This year we had 223 swimmers, not including masters in our club,” said Kigoos’ head coach Benji Hutton.

“That means there are a lot of kids in each age group and they’re practising together. And practising against your friends makes you faster.”

Buoyed by the success of its relay teams, the Kigoos placed third overall. They were fifth at the 2010 provincials.

The highlight of the meet was the victory by the Division 2 boys’ 200-metre freestyle relay team. Kigoos Newton Szeto, Peiyo Song, Kalen Lacroix and Vincent Lee won in two minutes, 27.27 seconds, with Abbotsford less than 100th of a second behind at 2:28.21 and Port Coquitlam Marlins third in 2:28.99.

“To win was a magnificent feeling, really fun,” said Hutton.

“It’s the best part of the job for sure to be standing on the deck and seeing the kids look back and pump their fists. It’s why I coach, for sure.”

Alex Ball, 12, more than lived up to his coach’s advanced billing as a pure sprinter. Competing in Division 3, Ball won the 50-metre freestyle in 29.21 seconds, placed second in the 100 freestyle in 1:06.26, and was third in the 50 breaststroke in 38.51 seconds. He had placed first or second in each of his events at regionals.

Division 2 swimmer Peiyu Song also made three A finals and finished fourth (50 freestyle), fifth (50 backstroke) and sixth (100 individual medley).

Jeremy Fung (Category O) had the most final appearances with four. He won three events—100 freestyle (1:16.09), 50 backstroke (40.64), 50 butterfly (39.98), and placed second in the 100 individual medley (1:28.48).