The Hyack Swim Club repeated as the provincial AAA long course swim team champions for the first time ever.
The Canada Games Pool club outpointed runner-up Richmond Rapids, Pacific Sea Wolves and Vancouver Pacific clubs - all of which finished within 36 aggregate points of each other, to become the first defending club champion in recent memory.
With two provincial meets in both short and long course per year, the Hyacks have done no worse than third this season, said Hyack head coach Mark Bottrill.
"To have a good run at the top, something is going right because kids are changing all the time," said Bottrill. "The big thing with our team is we have such an eclectic group of kids. We're not relying on just one kid."
Top point-getter Sara Whelan led the Hyacks with five podium finishes, including wins in both the 400 and 800-metre freestyle. The 15-year-old was also runner-up in the 200m breaststroke and a medallist in the 200m free and 400m individual medley.
Stefan Milosevic led all Hyacks with three gold medals, including a club and meet record in the 200m butterfly of 2: 03.98, eclipsing the old mark by more than two seconds.
Milosevic, 17, also won the 16-and-over 100m free and 200m fly. He also placed third in the 200m backstroke.
Ethan Laing was also a standout for the Hyacks. The 12-year-old won two races, including the 100m breast in a new meet record time of 1: 15.01, beating the old standard by nearly two seconds. He also won the 200m breast and was third in the 50m free and 200m IM.
Laing also teamed with Sehajvir Singh, Dima Lim and Brodie Young for gold in the 12-and-under boys' 200m free relay in a new club record time of 9: 33.60.
The four Hyack boys also won the medley relay.
Singh also picked up silver medals in the 100 and 200m back, in which he achieved an age group national time. He was also third in the 100m free.
Lim was also busy, winning two bronze medals in the 100m back and 1,500m free.
Young earned his first-ever AAA medals, including a silver in the 200m breast on the opening day of the four-day competition. He was also third in the 100m breast.
Grace Lin also came up golden with a first-place finish in the 11-and-under 100m IM. Teammate Jamie Lavoie also placed third in the IM.
Brian Ni, who aged up to the boys' 13 division just weeks earlier, managed a bronze in the 400m free and a pair of fourth-place finishes at 200 and 1,500m, posting an age group national time of 18: 17.40 in the long distance race.
Jasmine Whelan, 14, posted silver-medal swims in the 100 and 200m breast.
Mia Bottrill was a runner-up in 16-year-old 200m fly and Cristian Cristurean, also 16, placed third in the 1,500m in a personal-best time of 16: 45.35, just outside a senior national qualifying time.
Another notable achievement was 13-year-old Amar Fejvic, who made his first-ever AAA final on Day 1 in the 100m back.
"The biggest thing was we had a huge Saturday," said Bottrill of the team's comeback win in the aggregate. "We started in sixth (place) and were holding our own. We made a huge push on Day 3, and we happened to have enough swims to take it."
