Yards. Metres. Either way, Whitehorse Glacier Bears are fast in the pool.
Ten members from the Whitehorse club were swimming in ribbons following the 2013 Winter Games North meet hosted by the Haines Dolphin Swim Team in Haines, Alaska, over the weekend.
The Glacier Bears took in 29 top-three finishes at the meet that included athletes from Juneau’s Glacier Swim Club.
It was the first Outside meet for most of the Whitehorse swimmers as well as the first measured in yards instead of metres.
“It was a tremendous meet,” said Glacier Bears coach Shereen Hill. “There were 10 kids (from the Glacier Bears), four boys and six girls, and for six of them it was their first time being at an Outside meet.”
Whitehorse’s Donovan Horvath placed in the top-two in all his races in the open boys division. The 14-year-old was the oldest at the meet for the Glacier Bears.
He took first in the 200-yard individual medley (IM), the 500-yard freestyle, the 200-yard backstroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. He placed second in the 100 breast, the 100 free and the 200 free.
“He was in an older division that didn’t have quite as many swimmers, but he definitely did shine for us - as a team leader as well,” said Hill. “He’s been to swim meets before, so he’s one of my more experienced swimmers. He really helped out with encouraging the kids and helping them learn the process: going up to the marshaling area, going up to the blocks.”
Glacier Bears’ Meghan Pennington placed second in three events in the girls 10-and-under division. The 10-year-old was second in the 200 IM, the 100 back and the 100 IM. She was also third in the 200 free and 100 breast, and fourth in the 50 breast.
Swimming in the same division was teammate Meghan Birmingham.
Birmingham was second in the 50 breast and 100 breast, and third in the 200 IM and 50 back. She also had three fourth place finishes.
“She fought hard to race against her opponents because they were really tight races,” said Hill. “She worked really hard.”
Whitehorse’s Emma Boyd, also in girls 10-and-under, placed second in the 200 back, third in 50 free and third in the 50 fly.
Bears’ Liam Diamond, in boys 10-and-under, was second in the 100 back and 100 breast.
Sarah Traverse, in girls 11-12, swam to second in the 200 IM, third in the 100 breast and third in the 50 fly.
In the same age group, teammate Erin McBryan came third in the 100 free and fifth in the 100 breast and 100 fly.
Whitehorse’s Nathan Muir-Cressman snagged second in the 50 free and fourth in the 200 free and 100 free for boys 11-12.
Noah Wright, the youngest Bear at the meet, placed fourth in the 50 back and seventh in the 50 breast and 50 free for boys 10-and-under.
“I have to say, he was the hardest-cheering person on the whole team,” said Hill.
Teammate Rebecca Koser took fourth in 200 free, sixth in the 100 breast and seventh in the 100 back for girls 11-12.
“All the kids were tremendous ambassadors for the Glacier bears,” said Hill. “Some of the things I heard from the timers and officials was that our swimmers were encouraging to their teammates and other swimmers.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com