Fast Swimming at APAC

Congratulations to Hong Kong International School (Female) and the International School of Beijing (Male) on their APAC victories!

The International School of Beijing (ISB) hosted the APAC (Asian-Pacific Activities Conference) Championships the weekend of January 24-26, featuring schools from China (Mainland and Hong Kong), Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines. The three day SCM meet featured fast swimming and some great races. ISB, the host school, came away with a convincing win in the male team race, defending their title from last year followed by Shanghai American School-Pudong.

The star of the meet was Rafael Gu from Shanghai American School - Puxi. He broke APAC records in all five of his events, even setting new All-Conference International School Aquatics (ISA) records in the 100m Backstroke (57.03) and 100m Freestyle (49.79). At just 14 years old, he has a number of opportunities to put these records even further out of touch if he continues to compete in International School competitions. He was victorious in the 200m Free (1:49.49) and 100m IM (57.68) while also setting the APAC record in the 50m back (26.28) leading off the 200 Medley Relay.

*Using Swim Swam’s convertor, Gu’s SCM 200m Freestyle time converts to 1:52.68, faster than the current 13-14 LCM USA National Age Group Record in the 200m Freestyle, a record currently held by Dare Rose (1:53.30) while Gu’s SCM 100m Freestyle time converts to just slower than the 13-14 LCM 100m Freestyle USA NAG record currently held by Michael Andrew (51.30).

Two of the best races of the meet were the 200m male relays. In the 200m Medley Relay in a close fought battle between ISB and SAS-Puxi finished with the ISB team of Kan Yuan, Kingston Yip, Curtis Wong and Alan Sun getting to the wall first after a number of lead changes with a new APAC and ISA All-Conference record of 1:47.22, with 50m Free champion Alan Sun (24.01) getting to the wall just ahead of SAS-Puxi (Rafael Gu, Barron Han, Nolan Liu and Brian Lung) who finished in 1:47.83, also under both the previous APAC and ISA All-Conference record. The other APAC record set on the male side was by Kan Yuan of ISB in the 200m IM (2:08.91). In the 200 Free Relay, Shanghai American School Pudong led the entire way but were pushed stroke for stroke by ISB. The SAS-Pudong team of Jeffrey Lin, Steven Zhao, Eric Liu and Evan Aballea won in a new APAC and ISA All-Conference record of 1:37.23, just ahead of the ISB team of Aaron Sun, Justin Choi, Kingston Yip and Alan Sun who finished in a time of 1:37.40. The ISB team of Alan Wang, Alan Sun, Justin Choi and Aaron Sun won the 400m Free Relay in a time of 3:40.86.

In the female team race, Hong Kong International School (HKIS) defended their team title, beating the International School of Beijing by 126.5 points. HKIS is the defending mythical ISA Female Team Champion and while they suffered significant losses from last years team to graduation, they remain strong, setting a new APAC record in the 400m Free Relay of 3:59. 21 with a team of Gabrielle Wei, Aly Lindsay, Nathalie Kerrigan and Hannah Qi-Wen Tan. HKIS had other event wins by Gabrielle Jia Yun Wei in the 200 Free (2:06.64), 100 Breast (1:12.10) and 200 IM (2:20.30), Elizabeth Won in the 400 Free (4:31.91), Alys Lindsay in the 100 Free (59.68) and Sonja Kai Lam Chen in the 50 Back (30.30).

Anthea Wong of ISB was the big winner on the female side, setting APAC records in the 100 IM (1:04.22), 50 Fly (27.45), 100 Fly (1:01. 63) while also winning the 50 Free (26.62). Both backstroke events also saw new APAC records, with Annalie Yu of Shanghai American School Puxi setting the 50 Back record (30.02p) and Emily Park of Seoul Foreign School setting the mark in the 100m Back (1:04.30).

Seoul Foreign School’s Josephine Lee, Emily Park, Chloe Wong and Angelica Slater teamed up to win the 200m Medley Relay in 2:01.63 while ISB’s team of Audrey Chiu. Anson Wong, Emily Lan and Anthea Wong won the 200m Free Relay in a time of 1:50.40.

Team Scores

Female

1. Hong Kong International School - 462.5

2. International School of Beijing - 336

3. Seoul Foreign School - 201

4. Shanghai American School Puxi- 188.5

5. Shanghai American School Pudong - 119

6. Brent International School - 105

7. United Nations International School of Hanoi - 52

t-8. Western Academy of Beijing - 61

t-8. Concordia International School - 61

9. American International School of Guangzhou - 34

Female

1. International School of Beijing - 504.5

2. Shanghai American School Pudong - 351.5

3. Shanghai American School Puxi- 307

4. Seoul Foreign School - 152

5. Hong Kong International School - 121

6. Western Academy of Beijing - 71

7. United Nations International School of Hanoi - 57

8. Brent International School - 42

9. American International School of Guangzhou - 30

10. Concordia International School - 10

Complete results can be found on Meet Mobile (APAC Swim Meet 2018-19) or here.