The Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club hosted the Yukon's largest gathering of competitive swimmers at the Yukon Championships Invitational Swim Meet held from May 2 to 4 at the Canada Games Centre in Whitehorse, marking the first time the club hosted a full three-day meet with both preliminary and finals formats.
Approximately 160 athletes participated in the event, representing the Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club, Special Olympics Yukon, Yukon Graylings Master Swim Club, Cascade Swim Club from Calgary, Mackenzie Muskrats from the N.W.T., various other clubs from across Canada and the Haines Dolphins Swim Team from Alaska.
The Glacier Bear's head coach, Bronwyn Pasloski, told the News that the event marked a significant leap for the club by providing members with tough competition in their home pool. She added that the Yukon Championships Invitational Swim Meet was a success, enhancing Yukon's reputation on the Western Canadian competitive stage and potentially opening up opportunities for the club to bid for hosting future events such as the B.C. Divisional Championships.
"This event wasn’t just the biggest in terms of participation, it also marked a leap in competitive calibre. For the first time, WGB hosted a full three-day, prelims-and-finals format meet, offering an elevated level of racing experience for all athletes involved," Pasloski wrote in an email to the News.
Canadians and Alaskans took a plunge at the 25-metre Whitehorse pool on May 4 to compete in the finals of the 400m IM, 400m free and 800m free all relays races in age categories ranging from U10 to U18 and adults.
The club told the News that the Whitehorse Glacier Bears secured the team title with 6,142 points, ahead of Cascade Swim Club from Calgary, which finished second with 4,226 points. Other clubs competing included Northwest Territories (393 points), Haines Alaska (214 points), Graylings Masters (149 points) and Yukon Special Olympics swimmers (17 points).
Among the individual performances by Glacier Bears, the results show that Casey Delaurier (18+) claimed gold in the 200m fly, 200m and 400m free, with silver in 50m and 100m fly, as well as 50m and 100m free. Quin Lalonde (15-17 boys) secured wins in 100m free, 50m back, and both the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
Blake Steele (11-12 girls) won in the long-distance events, winning the 200m and 400m IM, plus the 200m, 400m, and 800m free. Alexandra Grandy (11-12 girls) did well in the breaststroke, capturing gold in 50m and 200m, with additional silver medals across IM, fly and backstroke events.
Thomas Bakica medalled in all his events, including gold in 200m IM, backstroke and breaststroke races. Thomas Gishler stood out in freestyle and backstroke races, while Emily Vangel and Alex Petriw put up strong performances in sprint events across fly, free and breaststroke.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
