Joel Blanco of the Haney Neptunes broke three records at the Fraser Valley regional summer swim club championships last weekend in Langley.
Joel, 13, won the boys’ Div. 4, 50-metre freestyle A final in 26.21 seconds, edging teammate and friend Declan Lee-Chin (28.23).
Joel also won the Div. 4, 50m butterfly A final in 29.11, also a regional meet record.
He set another in the 100m free (59.68).
Joel also came second in 100 backstroke, to Declan, and was a part of two winning relay teams (200m free and individual medley) along with his older brother Eric.
Individually, Eric, 16, won the boys’ Div. 6 200m IM final, 50m free (25.55), 100m breaststroke and 100m free, setting personal bests in each.
Eric, a student at Samuel Robert Technical, credits his coach, John Swisher, for pushing club members to achieve better times.
Joel echoed that, but acknowledged that physical growth helped him, too. A year ago, he was around 5’9’’, but now stands 6’1’’ and weighs 160 pounds.
Still, he didn’t expect to set meet records.
“I was surprised.”
Swisher said other clubs might rest their summer swimmers before meets, but the Neptunes did not. He admitted to pushing the swimmers hard.
He thinks adrenaline might have played a part in their success, but nonetheless said the overall club results were great.
With regards to Joel, “It’s a David and Goliath situation.”
Besides his height, he’s an “an extremely athletic kid. He’s one of those kids who can pick up anything.”
With Eric, Swisher said he’s the hardest working kid in the club.
“As far as work ethic, there’s nobody better.”
Eric and Joel, along with a host of teammates qualified for the swim provincials, which start Friday, Aug. 18 in Kamloops.
The Haney Neptunes are sending two teams to the provincials for water polo – in U12 and U14.
Joel and his younger brother Dean are part of the U14 team.
As well, three Neptunes are competing at the provincials in synchronized swimming.
At the regionals, Josh Smith of the Neptunes also set a valley record, winning boys’ Div. 2 50m fly in 36.01. The mark he defeated stood for 23 years.
Christopher Anderson (Div. 3) also broke an old record, but finished second in the event.
All Neptunes whoqualified for the provincials:
Div. 1
Gracie Chamberlain – 2nd 50 Free … 2nd 50 Breast
Kaya Edwards – 3rd 50 Back
Julia Longmuir – 3rd 100 Free
Leighton Ross – 1st 100 IM, 1st 50 Fly … 1st 50 Breast … 2nd 100 Free
Robyn Schneider – 3rd 100 IM … 2nd 50 Fly … 3rd 50 Breast
Zachary Foster – 2nd 50 Free … 1st 50 Breast
Preston Seneviratne – 2nd 100 IM … 2nd 50 Back … 2nd 50 Breast … 2nd 100 Free
Brevin Wood – 1st 100 IM … 3rd 50 Fly … 1st 50 Back … 1st 100 Free
Div. 2
Kailyn Firth – 2nd 100 IM … 2nd 50 Fly … 2nd 50 Breast
Peyton Foster – 1st 50 Free … 3rd 50 Back … 3rd 100 Free
Mohnish Peshin – 2nd 50 Back … 2nd 100 Free
Joshua Smith – 3rd 100 IM … 2nd 50 Free … 1st 50 Fly … 1st 100 Free
Div. 3
Charlie Caranoo – 2nd 50 Fly
Mina Edwards – 4th 100 IM (PQT) … 4th 50 Free (PQT) … 1st 50 Fly … 1st 100 Free
Isabella Seneviratne – 3rd 100 IM … 3rd 50 Back … 3rd 50 Breast … 2nd 100 Free
Christopher Anderson – 2nd 100 IM … 2nd 50 Fly … 1st 50 Back … 1st 100 Free
Keenan Gander – 3rd 50 Fly … 3rd 100 Free
Ewen Patrick – 2nd 50 Free … 2nd 50 Breast … 2nd 100 Free
Div. 4
Rebecca Baxter – 3rd 100 Back
Jordan Patrick – 3rd 50 Free … 2nd 50 Fly … 2nd 100 Back … 3rd 100 Free
Robynn Reid – 3rd 50 Fly … 2nd 100 Breast
Rebecca Smith – 3rd 200 IM … 3rd 100 Breast
Joel Blanco – 1st 50 Free … 1st 50 Fly … 2nd 100 Back … 1st 100 Free
Declan Lee-Chin – 2nd 50 Free … 1st 100 Back … 3rd 100 Free
Jordan Longmuir – 2nd 200 IM … 3rd 50 Fly
Div. 5
Kendra Anderson – 3rd 50 Free … 1st 50 Fly … 1st 100 Breast
Madison Seneviratne – 2nd 100 Fly … 1st 100 Back … 2nd 50 Fly
Div. 6
Jeannette Baxter – 2nd 100 Fly … 3rd 50 Fly
Taylen Lee-Chin – 3rd 50 Free
Eric Blanco – 1st 200 IM … 1st 50 Free … 1st 100 Breast … 1st 100 Free
O’Cat 2
Madaline Zambolin-Jeans – 1st 50 Free … 2nd 50 Fly … 3rd 100 Back … 2nd 100 Breast
Div. 7
Julia Rosec – 1st 200 IM … 1st 100 Fly … 1st 100 Back … 1st 50 Fly
Div. 8
Kevin Dee – 2nd 200 IM … 2nd 100 Back … 1st 100 Breast … 1st 100 Free
Relays:
Medley
Div 1G – Kaya Edwards, Robyn Schneider, Leighton Ross, Gracie Chamberlain
Div 1G – Julia Longmuir, Natasha Reid, Brooklyn Tetzlaff, Paige Downey
Div 1B – Preston Seneviratne, Zachary Foster, Brevin Wood, Kristjan Hall
Div 2G – Bronwen Gander, Danika Michelsen, Kailyn Firth, Peyton Foster
Div 2B – Dominik Hall, Mohnish Peshin, Joshua Smith, Vincent Costa
Div 3G – Stephanie Schneider, Isabella Seneviratne, Brynn Firth, Laina Hyland
Div 3G – Vanessa McNabb, Lauren Downey, Charlie Caranoo, Mina Edwards
Div 3B – Keenan Gander, Ewen Patrick, Christopher Anderson, Andrew Makela
Div 4G – Jordan Patrick, Rebecca Smith, Maaya Peshin, Robynn Reid
Div 5G – Sydney Foster, Kendra Anderson, Madison Seneviratne, Kimberly Drew-Wheeler
Div 6B – Declan Lee-Chin, Eric Blanco, Joel Blanco, Jordan Longmuir
O’Cat 2G – Rebecca Baxter, Maya Elliott, Madaline Zambolin-Jeans, Sally Currie
Free
Div 1G – Leighton Ross, Robyn Schneider, Brooklyn Tetzlaff, Gracie Chamberlain
Div 1B – Zachary Foster, Preston Seneviratne, Kristjan Hall, Brevin Wood
Div 2G – Peyton Foster, Bronwen Gander, Danika Michelsen, Kailyn Firth
Div 2B – Joshua Smith, Vincent Xiao, Mohnish Peshin, Dominik Hall
Div 3G – Vanessa McNabb, Stephanie Schneider, Charlie Caranoo, Mina Edwards
Div 3G – Laina Hyland, Brynn Firth, Tori Pennington, Isabella Seneviratne
Div 3B – Ewen Patrick, Keenan Gander, Andrew Makela, Christopher Anderson
Div 4G – Jordan Patrick, Rebecca Baxter, Rebecca Smith, Robynn Reid
Div 4B – Matthew Makela, Zachary Zambolin-Jeans, Vincent Costa, Dean Blanco
Div 5G – Kendra Anderson, Madison Seneviratne, Sydney Foster, Kimberly Drew-Wheeler
Div 6B – Joel Blanco, Declan Lee-Chin, Jordan Longmuir, Eric Blanco
O’Cat 2G – Madaline Zambolin-Jeans, Maya Elliott, Maaya Peshin, Sally Currie
Div 7G – Julia Rosec, Cat Janzen, Taylen Lee-Chin, Jeannette Baxter