Kevin Kong and Austin Gibson / Staff reporter

Two national age group swimming records were broken on October 15 by Laon Kim, grade 9, at the PSW fall invitational swim meet in Surrey. Kim, who represents Hyack swim club, has broken records in the boys 13-14 short course 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle record.

According to Swimming Canada, Kim broke the 100m free with a time of 50.48 seconds, the previous mark set at 51.03. In the 200m free, Kim swam a time of 1:51.29, lowering the previous mark of 1:52.38. Both records are still pending ratification.

Kim has prepared for his races by stretching, listening to music, and taking deep breaths. During his races, he was focused on his breathing patterns. “Before the race, I was breathing, taking deep breaths,” Kim recalled. “I was stretching… and I was only listening to music.”

Kim also believes that the 100m free was the better race of the two. “First event of the day… I was feeling energetic,” Kim described. Nonetheless, he still finds ways to improve. “I think I could’ve turned better. My arms were kind of tired,” Kim reflected. “I could’ve done way more underwaters.” For the 200m free, he was rather tired and knew he could’ve done better.

“I was just trying to go a best time for every race,” Kim added. “It’s the first meet of the season, I didn’t think I was going to do really good.”

After his performances, Kim remained rather calm, as he believes there could be improvements. “I was chill with it,” Kim described. Additionally, he believes that the rest of the meet did not go as well as these two events.

Kim reveals that his goal for the season is to make the World Junior Championships.

According to Swimming Canada, Kim has previously broken the boys 13-14 long course 800m free record with a time of 8:23.15 at the Canadian Junior Championships in Montreal, Quebec this summer. He has also participated in Canada Games afterwards, which he gained a lot of experience from, as he had new teammates.

“Laon is a hard-working athlete, who enjoys being in the water everyday” said Kim’s former teammate Lucas Kim. He is very proud of Laon Kim and is motivated to work harder after seeing his achievements.

Laon Kim also mentions that his teammates were a huge part of his successful. “Without my swim mates, I don’t think I would’ve [come] this far,” Laon Kim mentioned. “I would be so lonely.”

To ensure continued success in the season, Laon Kim will train hard in practice, using his teammates for motivation.

Photo Credits:

  • Swim pool photographer: Rosa Jeong