Rancho San Dieguito swimmers break record in 24-hour swim challenge

A team of young swimmers from Rancho San Dieguito Swim Team came out on top in the Swim24 Challenge at the Boys & Girls Club of San Dieguito - Solana Beach, Harper Branch on Aug. 24-25.
The annual charity 24-hour swimming event raised over $48,000 to support Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego and its mission to save lives by funding swim lessons for underserved youth and providing aquatic safety education for all.

The group of Rancho San Dieguito (RSD) swimmers, part of Team Fragomen, won the 2019 Team Award for Farthest Distance Swam and set a new all-time record of 2,462 laps, approximately 70 miles, breaking the previous record of 2,407 laps set by Triton Swim in 2014.

Corey McClelland, president and CEO at Prevent Drowning Foundation presents the top youth award to Rancho San Dieguito swimmer Sébastien Wenger.

(Sandy Bruce)

Thirteen-year-old team member Sébastien Wenger was honored with the Individual Youth Award for swimming the most laps, 356, which is over 10 miles.

Sponsored by the global immigration law firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy (Fragomen), Team Fragomen was led by team captain Jacque Wenger (a 15 year-old junior at Westview High School) and included team members Aiden Benjamin (a 15-year-old sophomore at La Costa Canyon High School), Allen Cioaca (a 15-year-old junior at Cathedral Catholic High School), Ethan Hildelsheim (a 16-year-old junior at Mission Hills High School), Dylan Mes (a 15-year-old sophomore at Carlsbad High School), Jo Ong (a 16-year-old junior at Cathedral Catholic High School), Julian Ong (a 15-year-old sophomore at Cathedral Catholic), Drew Schmidt (a 17-year-old junior at Santa Fe Christian School), Lorenzo Wenger (a 10-year-old fifth grader at California Virtual Academy), and Sébastien, an eighth grader at California Virtual Academy.

The second place team, the Aquanauts.

(Courtesy)

A second team of RSD swimmers, the Aquanauts, finished in second place in the Swim 24 Challenge. The team led by Torrey Pines High School senior Stephan Lukashev swam a total of 2,142 laps in the 24 hours.
Bay Club Carmel Valley placed third this year, swimming 2,092 laps.

The top fundraising team was from Qualcomm, who raised $13,054.

Learn more about Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego and its programs at preventdrowningfoundation.org. To donate to the Challenge, visit bit.ly/2lBUoAI.

Stephan Lukashev having some fun in the Swim24 Challenge.

(Courtesy)