14-Year-Old Rafael Gu Blasts 1:49.49 SCM 200 Free, 49.79 100 Free

Asian-Pacific Activities Conference Championships

• January 24-26th
• International School of Beijing, Beijing, China
• Short Course Meters (SCM)
• Results (only results for Day 2 are provided on the APAC website)

Team Scores

Girls

Beijing, more specifically the International School of Beijing, played host to the Asia-Pacific Activities Conference Championships, a high school conference consisting of international schools based in China (and Hong Kong), Vietnam, South Korea, and the Philippines, this past weekend. This was a Short Course Meters (SCM) meet, and it was incredibly fast.

Shanghai Amercican School -Puxi’s Rafael Gu was perhaps the biggest star of the meet, and for good reason. The 14-year-old also swam for Rose Bowl Aquatics in California last Summer. He broke the APAC Record in all 5 of his events, and broke the All-Conference International School Records in the 100 back and 100 free. Gu’s times converted to Short Course Yards will be provided in (parenthesis). In the 100 back, Gu blasted a 57.03 (51.37) to knock down the APAC and International High School Records. His 100 free was even faster, with Gu swimming a stellar 49.79 (44.85) to smash the records. For reference, the 44.85 converted time would rank 4th all-time in the US for boys 13-14. His 200 free was virtually equal in terms of speed to his 100. In the 200, Gu swam a 1:49.49 (1:38.63), where the conversion would again rank 4th all-time for US 13-14 boys. It should also be noted that his time converts to 1:52.68 for LCM, which is actually faster than the current National Age Group Record, held by Dare Rose. Gu’s final individual event was the 100 IM, where he threw down an impressive 57.68 (conversion N/A). His final record came when Gu led off the 200 medley relay in 26.28 (23.23).

In the boys 200 medley relay, The International School of Beijing team consisting of Kan Yuan, Kingston Yip, Curtis Wong, and Alan Sun won in a new All-Conference Record of 1:47.22. Similarly, the 200 free relay saw the APAC and All-Conference records go down, this time by Shanghai American School Pudong. The team Jeffrey Lin, Steven Zhao, Eric Liu, and Evan Aballea touched the wall first in a final time of 1:37.23. There was one other boys APAC Record broken, the 200 IM, which was broken by Kan Yuan with a 2:08.91.

In the girls meet, Hong Kong International defended its team title handily, beating runner-up International School of Beijing by well over 100 points. Hong Kong’s 400 free relay team of Gabrielle Wei, Aly Lindsay, Nathalie Kerrigan, and Hannah Qi-Wen Tan combined for a 3:59.21, establishing a new APAC Record. The team was also helped to its victory by individual champions Wei (200 free – 2:06.64, 100 breast – 1:12.10, 200 IM – 2:20.30), Elizabeth Won (400 free – 4:31.91), Lindsay (100 free – 59.68), and Sonja Kai Lam Chen (50 back – 30.30).

Anthea Wong was the biggest record-breaker on the girls side, claiming victory in the 100 IM (1:04.22), 50 fly (27.45), and 100 fly (1:01.63), each in a new APAC Record. She also won the 50 free in a time of 26.62. There were 2 more APAC records broken, both coming in backstroke events.  Annalie Yu broke the 50 back in time of 30.02 in prelims, swimming slightly slower in finals to finish 2nd behind Sonja Chen. Emily Park won the 100 back with a 1:04.30, breaking the APAC Record.