CANYONS SWIMMERS SUCCESSFUL AT SR. D MEET

The 4th and final day of the Sr. Invitational at Commerce turned out to be every good as the first three for Canyons swimmers. Swimming with a small squad of mostly young atheletes, Canyons continued to show Southern California Swimming and beyond, what we do here in Santa Clarita, train hard and compete with intensity.

With different swimmers shining on each day of the meet, Sunday's star for Canyons had to be Konrad Antoniuk who, over the course of the meet dropped time in not only every event but every race except one. His outstanding week was punctuated by an impressive 1:58.20, 4th place finish in the 200 back and and equally big 16:24.81 in the 1650 to finish 6th. Over the week Konrad swam further than any athelete at the meet racing a combined 5,350 yards in 6 events and 4 relays, which is about 3.25 miles. In the water and on land (as a freshman, Konrad was the 3rd man on Hart's Cross Country team) Konrad's endurance is unparalleled.

Canyons other big finalist for the day was Jordan Danny who came up strong in the 200 yard breaststroke to take the bronze with a PR of 2:21.38.

Chelsea Griffiths turned in a strong performance in the 200 back staying right on her best time during her preliminary run, to finish 7th overall.

K.T. Livingstone backstroked to a 15th place overall finish in the consol final while Maggie Hanson took an overall 23rd place in the same event. For the young men, Michael Chiu churned his way to an 11th place overall finish in the 200 with Nui Harris taking 13th as well as a new PR of 2:02.70. Chui then returned to the consolation final of the 100 free taking his time down to a 49.02 and earning 14th place overall.

Sarah Pino finished an overall 13th in the 200 breast for the ladies while Daniel Colvin pushed to 23rd place for the men. Ranked 53rd, Daniel turned in a 5 second drop in this prelim to earn his way to the "C" final. Daniel then turned it up a notch finishing 11th in the 100 free and dropping a second off his best time.

Canyons own Bob Hwang continued to do what he does best, swim fast and amaze the competition. Still 13, Bob lowered his 100 free time in the championship final, to a 48.31. This was good enough for a 7th place finish. It also puts Bob just .43 off the team record set by Olympian and world record holder, Anthony Ervin. With more than a year left in this age group, it's not a matter of if, but when.

The only relay contested on this day was the 400 free relay and it was no surprise when the Canyons boys team of Ryan Kristensen, Bob Hwang, Daniel Colvin and Garrett Nugent finished first. Their time of 3:13.89 was just off a Jr. National time. Not bad considering one of the 4 was 13 years old. For the ladies, Adriana Silva, Sam Asencio and KT Livingstone finished 6th while Maggie Hanson, Jordan Danny, Jasmine Henderson and Chlesea Griffiths finished 12th.

Overall the performances of Canyons swimmers at the meet was outstanding. Considered a sneak peek at Sectionals, the Sr. Development Meet gave every a good look idea of what to expect in March. Canyons congratulates all our swimmers who attended the meet. The Green report (time drops) and Gold Report (new time standards achieved) will be updated shortly. Final standings saw Canyons finish 2nd out of 49 teams.

1. Aquazot Swim Team 734
2. Canyons Aquatic Club 601
3. College Area Swin Team 494
4. Santa Barbara Swim Club 450
5. Piranha Swim Team 434
6. Brea Aquatics 433
7. David Douglas Swim Club 373
8. Pacific Swim 356
9. The Claremont Club 345.5
10. La Mirada Armada 313

CANYONS RELAYS SET THE TONE FOR DAY #3

Day #3 of the Senior Invitational saw several Canyons swimmers knock off personal bests in a variety of events. KT Livingstone swam to a 2:08.00 in the championship final of the 200 fly, lowering her morning swim of a 2:08.35. For the boys, Bob Hwang finished 3rd in the consol finals and destroyed the team record of 1:58.54 set in 1999 by Tyler Clark, with his 1:56.57. Bob also took a shot at the team record in the 200 free coming up just shy with an impressive 1:45.95 finishing him 14th overall.

Konrad Antoniuk swam to 3rd in the "C" finals of the 200 fly breaking the 2 minute barrier for the first time with his 1:59.81. However, Konrad's big swim of the day was in the 400 IM where he obliterated his personal best with a very strong 4:14.87 in his preliminary swim. In the evening consol final Konrad finish 3rd.

Jordan Danny continued to show her dominance at the breaststroke by taking 3rd in the championship final. Her preliminary time of 1:05.85 was about 1 second off the team record. Jordan also swam the 400 IM to the "C" final finishing 2nd with a personal best of 4:38.24.

Michael Chui led a foursome of Canyons sprinters on a return trip to evening finals in the 50 free. Chui swam a 22.21 to win the consol final. Ryan Kristensen finished with a day's best of 22.31 and 8th place in the consolation finals. Bob Hwang finished second in the bonus final with a 22.62 putting him sight of Anthony Ervin's team record of 22.34. Rounding out the freestylers, newcomer Daniel Colvin turned in a 22.59 and finished 4th in the "C" final. Dan also turned a 1:01.59 in his prelim run and ultimalty finished 6th in the consol finals of the 100 breaststroke.

Canyons relay squads were very impressive, but none more so than the girls 400 medley relay that swam on Friday (day #2) when Chelsea Griffiths (back), Jordan Danny (breast) KT Livingstone (fly) and Adriana Silva (free) qualified for Nationals with their 3:58.81 finish. Judging by the performances of these 4 ladies and the rest, more national championship qualifying times are coming down the line.

Saturday's relay showed Canyons training and skills as both the ladies and men finished 2nd in the 200 medley relays. For the ladies, the national team of Griffiths, Danny, Livingstone and Silva turned in a 1:50.57 while the men's team of Michael Chiu, Daniel Colvin, Garrett Nugent and Ryan Kristensen plowed through the water for a 1:39.52. The team of Konrad Antoniuk, Guilbert Casequin, Bob Hwang and Nui Harris finshed 9th. The 800 free saw the women's team of Sam Asencio, KT Livingstone, Chelsea Griffiths and Adriana Silva swim to 8th place, while the foursome of Maggie Hanson, Jordan Danny, Ashley Cecil and Sarah Pino took 14th.

The mens team of Colvin, Kristensen, Hwang, Bob and Nugent also finished 8th with a combined time of 7:22.43.

Team standings after three days still has Canyons in 2nd place.

DAY 2

GRIFFITHS AND CHIU LEAD THE CANYONS CHARGE
Michael Chui and Chelesa Griffiths came out swinging on the second day of the Sr. Invitational. Swimming 3 events, Michael made championship finals in two and the "C final in the third. Finishing 6th in the 100 Fly, Michael turned in an impressive 52.65. Chui then came back in the 100 back finishing 4th. Michael then returned to swim the "C" final of the 200 IM.

Chelsea Griffiths finished 6th in the championship final, but her preliminary time of 57.90 would stand as the third fastest female 100 back of the meet.

Distance swimmer, Konrad Antoniuk picked up back-to-back PR times in the 500 free finishing 15th overall with a strong 4:47.50. Konrad then finished second in the consol finals of the 100 back with another PR swim of 56.04.

13 year old Bob Hwang didn't let his age get in the way of a strong swim. Bob won the 100 fly "C" final and finished 3rd in the consol finals of the 200IM

KT Livingstone showed her mettle finishing 4th in the C finals of the 100 fly and 5th in the C finals of the 100 back.

Jordan Danny plowed through the water in the "C" final 200 IM to a PR swim of 2:10.95 to finish 3rd in her heat.

Nui Harris took is "C" final in the 100 back to a 4th place touch and a PR time of 57.19.

Both Canyons boys and girls swam strong in the relays. For the ladies, the 200 free relay with With Adriana Silva, Sam Asencio, KT Livingstone and Chelsea Griffiths finished 7th with a time 1:41.84. Jordan Danny joined Silva, Livingstone and Griffiths in the 400 Medley relay for a 4th place finish.

On the boys side, the foursome of Michael Chiu, Dan Colvin, Garrett Nugent and Ryan Kristensen finished with the silver in the 400 Medley relay with a 3:36.92. Bob Hwang joined Chiu, Colvin and Nugent to take the bronze in the 200 Free (time of 1:30.00)

DAY 1

KONRAD ANTONIUK GOES THE DISTANCE AT COMMERCE
Day one of the Senior Invitational saw Konrad Antoniuk continue his distance dominance as he swam to a very impressive 8th place in the 1000. Only a few days into the 15 & older age group, Konrad's 9:44.55 missed the team record by a mere few seconds. Easily the youngest swimmer in the top 10, Konrad picked up his 5th Grand Prix qualifying time and has set the bar high for the rest of the club.