Glacier Bears swimmers qualify for Canadian Senior ‘B’ team

They may not have qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but both Bronwyn Pasloski and Alexandra Gabor have plenty of reasons to celebrate after competing at the CN Swimming Trials, held last week in Montreal.
On Monday, the two, along with Glacier Bears swim coach Marek Poplawski, were welcomed back to Whitehorse by a small and enthusiastic group of supporters.
Although the girls did not qualify to go to Beijing, they both swam admirably throughout the course of the six-day competition, which featured the very best athletes that the country has to offer.
Based on their performances, both Gabor and Pasloski were named to the Canadian Senior ‘B’ team.

The ‘B’ team is open to swimmers under the age of 20 years old and will travel to Quebec City in August to compete in an international meet with Great Britain and France.
The team consists of the next fastest two eligible swimmers in each event at the 2008 Beijing Trials, who did not qualify for Canada’s Olympic team.
“I am very pleased with both of them,“ said Poplawski.

“The way they were swimming and trying very hard.

I am impressed with the way they handled the pressure.

Going to a meet like that is high pressure and they both handled the pressure very well, so that was I think the highlight of the meet for me.“
Pasloski, 15, finished first in the “B” final of the 100-m breast, with a time that was faster than the eighth place finisher in the “A” final. 

She also set new personal best times in the 200-m individual medley event and the 200-m breast, placing second in the ‘B’ final in that event.
Gabor, 14, finished second in the ‘B’ final of the 200-m free.

Her time was only .06 seconds off her Canadian age group record.
Gabor also qualified for the 2008 FINA World Youth Championship.

The team has not been officially announced yet, but her point total has assured her a spot.

Swim Canada is just waiting for some swimmers to decide if they will go or not. Gabor finished with 881 in total and was in the top five in the freestyle event amongst swimmers 17 and under.

She will travel to Mexico for the event in July.
Poplawski credits the success of both swimmers to their dedication in the sport.  Gabor and Pasloski spend 21 hours in the pool every week as part of the Glacier Bears program.
Yukoner Mackenzie Downing, who now swims for the University of Victory, also competed at the trials.

Although Downing finished second in the ‘A’ final for the 100-m butterfly, she did not qualify for the Canadian Olympic Team.

This was a disappointing result for Downing, who has had a tremendous year, which was recognized by the University of Victory.

While Downing was in Montreal, she learned that she had been named Female Athlete of the Year at the university.

She also won the President’s Cup, which recognizes an outstanding UVic student-athlete that is in his or her fourth or fifth year, who best combines scholastic achievement and athletics ability.
The next competition for the Whitehorse Glacier Bears is the Yukon Invitational Swim meet, which will be held at the Canada Games Centre in Whitehorse on April 25 and 26.