Laon Kim Drops 1:49.62 To Become Youngest Canadian Sub-1:50 In 200 Free

2023 SPEEDO CANADIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 1-6, 2023
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC)
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Laon Kim has certainly taken to his new training environment at the University of Calgary Swim Club.

On Sunday night, Kim wrapped up at the Canadian Swimming Championships in style with a monstrous performance in the 200 freestyle, winning the boys’ 14-15 age group by over five seconds in a time of 1:49.62 to become the youngest Canadian ever under the 1:50 barrier.

Kim, who only recently turned 15, rockets past UCSC teammate Paul Dardis (1:52.15) for being the fastest 15-year-old Canadian ever, and also moves into the top spot in the 15-16 age group (Canadian age group records are recognized for 15-17s).

All-Time Canadian Performers, Boys’ 15-16 200 Freestyle (LCM)

1. Laon Kim, 1:49.62 – 2023
2. Teddy Kalp, 1:50.06 – 2013
3. Paul Dardis, 1:50.29 – 2023
4. Brian Johns, 1:50.34 – 2000
5. Karl Wolk, 1:50.37 – 2009

Kim is now within a second of the 15-17 National Age Group Record, which has been on the books for 14 years after Etobicoke’s Hassaan Abdel-Khalik clocked 1:48.74 in 2009 during the super-suit era.

All-Time Canadian Performers, Boys’ 15-16 200 Freestyle (LCM)

1. Hassaan Abdel-Khalik, 1:48.74 – 2009
2. Alexander Pratt, 1:49.39 – 2018
3. Laon Kim, 1:49.62 – 2023
4. Teddy Kalp, 1:50.06 – 2013
5. Paul Dardis, 1:50.29 – 2023

In May, Kim set a new National Age Group Record for 13-14 boys in a time of 1:52.39, but since aging up, he’s already been faster four times.

Prior to last week, he went 1:52.18 at the Mel Zajac Junior International in Vancouver in early June, and then at the Canadian Championships, he led off UCSC’s record-breaking 800 free relay in 1:51.08. That was followed by a preliminary swim of 1:51.24 on Sunday morning before his big performance in the final.

(Splits for Kim’s 13-14 NAG record are unavailable, so we’re using the splits from his swim at the Canadian Trials in the spring, which stood as the record for a little less than two months, in the chart below.)

Split Comparison – Kim

Looking beyond Canada, Kim’s time appears to be the seventh-fastest globally we’ve ever seen from a 15-year-old, though the data may be missing some swims. The fastest that USA Swimming has on record is the 1:48.21 produced by American Maximus Williamson at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships last summer.

To further drive home the magnitude of Kim’s swim, he would’ve won the 16-18 (1:49.96 winning time) and 19 & over (1:49.64 winning time) age groups on Sunday in Toronto.

Over the last month or so, Kim has been training with the University of Calgary Swim Club (UCSC) after he opted to change training bases from Hyack, where he’s been brought up, to experiment with a bigger environment prior to next season.

He has made no long-term commitments regarding where he’ll train next year, but it’s clear things have been working out in Calgary.

In addition to his win in the 200 free, Kim also picked up individual golds in the 50 free (23.01), 100 free (50.39), 400 free (3:59.31) and 800 free (8:18.07), while his splits played crucial roles in the UCSC boys breaking NAG records in both the 400 and 800 free relays.

Kim’s time in the 100 free made him the fastest 15-year-old in Canadian history, while in the 50 free, he improved on his mark of 23.18, having already held that distinction after his swim at Mel Zajac.