Yukon native Tuja Dreyer has been swimming up a storm.

Dreyer’s home community is Ross River. He is part of the Ross River Dena Council.

The Star reached him in Victoria recently, where he’s been swimming with Island Swimming.

“I had a pretty good start to the year. And lots of improvement. Our main goal now is just to keep the momentum up and hopefully get a spot on the Junior Pan-Pacs team.”

Dreyer was chosen to Team B.C. based on previous results.

There were 12 boys and 12 girls that competed at the Odlum Cup in Vancouver.

Ten boys and 10 girls competed in the Edmonton Open.

“It was more like training itself, seeing where you are and seeing where you have to improve,” related Dreyer.

“From the Edmonton Open, I figured out I didn’t have the aerobic capacity, or I was kind of falling short on the back halves of my swims.”

Dreyer competed in the B.C. Winter Provincial Championships March 7-10 in Victoria after that, winning five gold, one silver and four bronze medals and set three meet records as well.

“It was a lot of fun.”

Up next for Dryer were the Western Canadian Championships in Winnipeg.

“Not what I expected, but it was still pretty good results,” Dreyer related.

He won a medal of each colour at the meet.

“It was right after the provincial championships a week afterwards. I was pretty exhausted but I still managed to get a few medals.”

Dreyer said he considers the meet a lesson learned.

“It really shows that your preparation can give you the results you want.”

Dreyer also took part in a Swimming Canada Junior Male Development Camp in Vancouver at the UBC Aquatic Centre.

“I thought it was great. I learned a couple of tips about my strokes. I also learned where I was lacking in all my strokes.”

Dryer said he is an IM’er, meaning he races in Individual Medleys.

“The good thing about the JMD camp, my coach (Lucien Zucchi) was there as well. Things that I learned, he also picked up.”

They started incorporating what they learned into practices.

When asked what improvements he made at the camp, Dreyer replied, “I felt like my backstroke got way better during it.

“We were working on our endurance. I think I improved a lot. I think it showed during the B.C. Champs.”

Next up for Dreyer is the Canadian Olympic Trials which take place in Toronto in the second week of May. They were originally supposed to take place in Montreal, but a fire at Olympic Park forced a closure there. The change in venue won’t bother Dreyer.

“If anything, I feel more comfortable since I went to the Toronto pool before. I know what to expect. How the pool looks, I know the (competition) pool, I know the warmup pool. To be honest, it kind of puts me at ease.”

Dreyer said he was “feeling good” prior to the trials.

“We’ve got a couple more weeks of swimming before it. I’m going to be doing my off-events, maybe get another qualification.”

Dreyer said his training is going well.

“I just finished a pretty good work block; quite a few hard sets.”

Dreyer is also competing in the PCS Wavemaker LC Meet in Victoria April 28-30.

Regarding making the national team for the Junior Pan-Pacifics, Dreyer said, “I do believe I have a shot. Obviously, there’s other fast swimmers out there and I can only work on myself. I can’t focus on other people. But I’ve been putting in the work, so hopefully I get a good result out of it.”

If he makes the team, that will be Dreyer’s first international experience.

“I’m excited. It’s held in Australia, which is pretty far away.”

The 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships will be held in Canberra, Australia, from August 21-24.