15-Year-Old Laon Kim Fires Off 3:55.72 400 Free At UCSC November Invitational (SCM)

2023 UCSC November Invitational

• November 24-25, 2023
• Calgary, Alberta
• SCM (25 meters)
• Results

The University of Calgary Swim Club (UCSC) hosted what was essentially an intrasquad meet over the weekend, with a handful of the university swimmers in action as the meet was held over two sessions in ‘off’ times surrounding the Canada West Championships.

Laon Kim, the 15-year-old who joined UCSC this summer after previously training out of the Hyack Swim Club in British Columbia, neared his best times in all four of his events at the meet, highlighted by his winning effort in the 400 freestyle.

Kim, who owns numerous Canadian 13-14 National Age Group Records including both the long course and short course 400 free, clocked 3:55.72 in the SCM event to rank 7th all-time among 15-year-olds in Canada. His best time and 13-14 NAG stands at 3:54.19, set last November at the Odlum Brown Colleges Cup.

Kim also clocked 22.96 in the 50 free, 57.31 in the 100 back and 2:02.08 in the 200 IM, with his lifetime bests standing at 22.61, 56.72 and 2:00.93, respectively.

His swim in the 200 IM moves him up to 3rd all-time among 15-year-olds in Canada, trailing only Cole Pratt (1:59.58) and Tobias Oriwol (2:00.12).

Kim was the runner-up to Florida commit Paul Dardis in both the 50 free (22.67) and 100 back (57.29), with Dardis lowering his PB in the 100 back (previously 57.56) and nearing it in the 50 free (22.48).

The 17-year-old Dardis also topped the field in the 100 fly, clocking a new best time of 55.91.

In the 200 IM, it was Aiden Norman, another Florida commit (both for 2024), who won in 2:01.62. Although not a PB, it was his fastest since turning 17, moving him into 18th all-time among 17-year-olds in Canada.

In the 50 fly, Jeffrey Cheung set a new Alberta Provincial Record for 14-year-old boys in a time of 25.93, lowering the decade-old mark of 26.13 previously held by UCSC product Stephen Calkins.

Cheung’s previous best time stood at 26.31, set earlier this month at the Cascade Speed Meet.

He was also a member of a record-setting relay team, as Tyrone Chen (25.37), Cheung (23.54), Miguel Lorenzo (25.20) and Joe Dong (24.72) clocked 1:38.83 in the 200 free relay to set a new Provincial Record for 13-14 boys, smashing the old mark of 1:41.01 set by UCSC way back in 2005.

They are now within striking distance of the 13-14 Canadian NAG record, which was set by Kim’s Hyack squad in July 2021 in a time of 1:38.06.

On the female side, 15-year-old Sienna Rodgers had the top swim of the competition in the 100 back, knocking over half a second off her PB in 1:00.02 to move up to 11th all-time among 15-year-olds in Canada and #2 in Alberta. She is just over three-tenths shy of the Provincial Record held by former IU standout Brooklyn Snodgrass (59.68).