Mackenzie Lewington and Brayden Phillips have etched their names onto the Prince George Barracudas Swim Club''s wall of fame.
Not only did they rise to the top of the boys 10-and-under competition at last weekend's Northern Medical Sprint meet at the Aquatic Centre, but they shattered club records once owned by now-retired 'Cudas swim racers Sterling King, Devin Durrand and Craig Sharp, some of which had stood for 23 years.
In the 200-metre freestyle, Lewington's time of 2:31.86 was nearly six seconds quicker than King's 2:37.39, set in 2006, and he took nearly four seconds off Durrand's best time in the 100 backstroke, finishing in 1:20.83 as compared with Durrand's 1:24.31, set in 2003.
Lewington clocked 1:21.99 in the 100 individual medley, topping Durrand's 2004 time of 1:23.11, and shaved nearly three seconds off Sharp's 200 IM time of 2:56.6, set in March 1990, finishing in 2:53.83.
Phillips wiped out two of Sharp's breaststroke records. His time of 42.47 in the 50m race was well ahead of Sharp's 44.65, set in March 1990. Phillips was almost five seconds faster in the 100m event with a time of 1:30.21, wiping out Sharp's January 1990 record of 1:35.05.
"It feel pretty good to break records," said Lewington.
The 10-year-olds met in September when Phillips joined the club after his family moved to Prince George from Terrace. Lewington has been with the Barracudas since he was six and he likes the fact he now has a good friend his own age who pushes the pace to make him swim faster.
"I was just trying to beat Brayden," said Lewington. "He was three seconds ahead of me in the [100m] breaststroke. I just have to keep my head down more and focus on breathing.
"I like freestyle. My best race this weekend was the 200 freestyle [which he finished in 2:31, a 10.46-second improvement over his previous personal best]. Brayden beat me in the two breaststrokes and I beat him in everything else."
Lewington also has his 12-year-old sister Skylar to chase. She finished third-overall among 12-13-year-old girls at the Northern Medical Sprint meet. The daily battles at the Aquatic Centre between Lewington and Phillips are encouraging the club's younger swimmers to try to keep pace and that's led to some spirited practices.
"This is very good for both of them and the rest of the boys who try to keep up with them," said Barracudas head coach Jerzy Partyka. "Breaking records that have been there since 1990 is not easy to do. Brayden broke the 100 breaststroke time from 1990 and he will probably be second in Canada with that time right now."
Phillips is rapidly progressing in the club's Development 1 group, showing signs he'll soon be ready to move up up to Lewington's elite group. He trained for at least five years with the Terrace Blueback Swim Club and had chance to reunite with his swimming buddies during the three-day Prince George meet.
"He has such a good sense of humour and he's very easy to coach," said Partyka. "He's responding well to all the distractions and technically he's very good. He swam the 1,500 freestyle time trial two weeks ago for the first time in his life and Mackenzie swam faster, so Brayden said he wanted to go again and beat his time, so he was swimming the 1,500 again [on Saturday]. He didn't beat the time but he has good spirit."
n Sava Yungman of the Barracudas equaled Robbie Dunbar's 1998 club record in the 15-17-year-old boys 100 IM, clocking 1:01.50. The 80 Barracudas swimmers who entered the meet posted 363 personal best times. The 'Cudas topped the team standings with 4,503 points, followed by Prince Rupert (1,928) and Williams Lake (1,528).
