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Gabor, Pasloski hold own against best in the world

It was like killing three birds with one stone.

It was like killing three birds with one stone.

Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club member Alexandra Gabor set three records with one swim while competing at the 46th Annual Mel Zajac International Swim Meet held over the weekend at the UBC Aquatic Centre, Vancouver.

Racing in a heat for the 200-metre freestyle event, Gabor broke the Canadian record for age 15-17 girls, as well as the BC record for the same group and BC’s open record.

She then went on to the A final, finishing second behind Australian Olympic gold medalist Bronte Barratt.

“It’s a very high level meet with many of the best Canadian swimmers,” said Glacier Bears head coach Marek Poplawski. “Also there were some Americans and Australians.”

In fact, about 70 American swimmers competed, including national junior team members and university teams.

“It was very hard to make finals,” said Poplawski. “Some finals were only Americans.”

Gabor also finished seventh in the A final in the 100-metre freestyle. In a pair of freestyle B finals she came in second (10th overall) in the 400-metre and fourth (12th overall) in the 50-metre.

“She lost to Canadian Erica Morningstar (in the 100-metre), the best sprinter in Canada, the rest were American,” said Poplawski. “That tells you how strong of a field there was there.

“(The meet) was very successful for Alexandra, a very good experience.”

Teammate Bronwyn Pasloski also made waves, with two first-place finishes in C finals (17th overall) in the 50-metre and 200-metre breaststroke events. In the 100-metre breaststroke C finals, she took fourth (20th overall).

“I think she could have done a bit better,” said Poplawski. “Like I said, it was a major meet and the breaststroke was a very strong field there. There were a lot of very good breaststrokers—some of the best in the world.”

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com