Team Yukon swimmers continue to put forward their best effort in the pool. As Tuesday’s competition wrapped up, nine of the 10 athletes had achieved personal best times and one had broken three club records.

Alex Petriw swam to a personal best in the 800m freestyle Monday night, setting a new Glacier Bears club record of nine minutes, 42.8 seconds. He was third in his timed final and finished 19th out of 22 swimmers.

“I thought it was good,” Petriw said of his race. “I think I went a little fast at the start... I thought overall it was a great race.”

Petriw followed that swim up with another personal best performance in the 100m freestyle and another club record.

He finished sixth in his heat with a time of 1:00.08.

Petriw said he followed his race plan. “For me, it was a great race.”

In the pool this morning, Petriw broke another club record in the 400m freestyle, placing fifth in his heat with a time of 4:41.65.

The swimming competition is taking place at Winnipeg’s Pan Am Pool, which features a 50m (Olympic-sized) facility.

It has no windows and can get really hot inside, said Petriw, but he feels that the water is fast.

With 10 swimmers on the team: Thomas Bakica, Emma Boyd, Cassidy Cairns, Kassua Dreyer, Aidan Harvey, Hannah Kingscote, Rennes Lindsay, Brooklyn Massie, Alex Petriw and Ella Pollock-Shepherd, Team Yukon is the smallest contingent at the pool. That doesn’t stop them from being loud.

Coach Malwina Bukszowana, who is the Glacier Bears head coach, said the team is focusing on performing their best and being good teammates.

“They cheer on the bus,” she said with a laugh. “They are having fun I think.”

The swimmers have yet to qualify for a final, but Bukszowana said they keep trying to do their best. The team is back at the pool for the evening finals session as the girls race the relay. There are only three boys on the team, so they don’t qualify for the four-person event.

“We are happy with the best times,” she said. “All is good.”

The swimming competition continues through Saturday.