Team Yukon swimmers Tuja Dreyer and Thomas Gishler had some strong performances at the 2022 Niagara Canada Summer Games this past week.

Dreyer made it into three B Finals at the Games.

“They went all right. Nothing too amazing. I did switch swim training, different coaches, different teammates, so that was definitely a factor. But, honestly, with all that, I did pretty alright in the meet, got a few best times, so – I guess I updated some of my swim events.”

The ones that Dreyer made the B finals in were his best events.

“I guess they were pretty good,” he said.

“They’re all different, all my events, from prelims to finals but usually I’d go a bit faster in finals.

“My 400 IM, on my first day, I added 11 seconds, and in the finals I was only three seconds off my personal best, which I swam in Westerns. And honestly, that was pretty good because I felt like I was way less fit than I was half a year ago.

“I feel like my technique has gotten way better.”

Dreyer doesn’t hold back in the Preliminary rounds.

“Not really. I guess it’s more intense in finals, like, pressure put on you.”

As a 14-year-old, Dreyer faced some stiff competition.

“The age group for Canada Games was 17 and under, or 2005 and under, so it would be a bunch of 17-year-olds that made it to finals,” he said.

“I wasn’t really expecting anything coming into the meet. I usually do that, going into a meet, I don’t expect anything, especially this meet, because, again, I switched swim coaches, the club, teammates.”

The coaching change was from Kelowna to Whitehorse.

“I went two or three weeks before the Games to Whitehorse to train with the Glacier Bears.”

Dreyer and his mom moved to Kelowna three years ago. They’re now moving to Victoria, and Dreyer will be swimming with Victoria’s Island Swimming Club.

“It’s actually part of a sports school, so I’ll be going to a sports school this year, which’ll be pretty cool.” said Dreyer.

“I’m really happy about swimming being part of my school because when I was in Kelowna, it was like a lot of moving and driving around everywhere that would waste time.

“(In Victoria) everything after four o’clock, like school, swimming, it’s all done after 4 o’clock.”

Dreyer will be going into Grade 9.

“I’m excited. The team had a bunch of really good swimmers in the Canada Games, I think a few gold medalists and yeah, I’m pretty excited.”

Gishler had three top-10 finishes at the Games.

“They were pretty good. I got a couple personal bests. I got one for the 200 (butter) ‘fly; I took a second off. And I think maybe the 100 Free Relay.

“I didn’t actually compete super well in most of my races but it went good for what they were. I came top 10 in a couple of them. I’m happy with them. They were good.

“I was happy with the results; not so much the time, but it was a good race. It was a fun meet,” Gishler related.

“I would say it was a successful meet. I was happy. The whole team did really good, too,” he added.

Gishler was coming off of competing in the nationals in late July in Montreal.

“It felt bigger, just cause it had the opening ceremonies and stuff. It’s a completely different environment for the national level meets. It was really exciting to be able to compete in that.”

As for what’s next for Gishler and the team, “Right now we have three weeks off until Sept. 6,” said Gishler. “And then we start training again and then our first away meet will be in December, for Xmas Cracker.”

The annual PCS Xmas Cracker swim meet takes place in Victoria in December.

Gishler one of the team captains, along with Emily Bangel, added the Games went good.

“The whole team did really well. It was a fun experience for a lot of the – there was a lot of younger swimmers that came from our club – a really cool experience for them.”

Meanwhile, Tuesday marked the beginning of the second week of the games.

In track, in the Female 100 Metre race, in Heat 1, Amelie Guilbeault finished eighth in 13.86. In Heat 3, Sylvie Sandiford came in seventh in 14.09. Neither of them made it to the finals.

In the Male 100 Metres, Eban Basnett finished eighth in Heat 1 in 13.10 and Andres Insley finished eighth in Heat 3 in 12.72. Neither runner made it to the finals.

In the Male 400 Metres, Trix Sierra came in seventh in 58.79, followed by Jackson Berry in 1:03.52. Neither runner qualified for the finals.

In the Female 1500 Metres, Cheyenne Tirschmann came in 10th in Heat 1 in 4:55.61. Kate Mason finished 11th in Heat 2 in 5:17.20. Both girls qualified for the Medal Heat on Friday.

In the Male 1500 Metres, Brahm Hyde finished 10th in Heat 1 in 4:55.28. Hyde qualified for the Medal Heat on Friday.

In the Male 4x100 Metre Relay, Yukon finished sixth in 49.52. Consolation and Medal heats take place Friday. The lineups for those were not posted at press time.

In the male discus, in Group 1, Glade Roberts hurled into eighth place with a throw of 24.66 metres. In Group 2, Angus Clarke finished in ninth with a throw of 18.26 metres. The Medal Group throws Saturday, with the lineup still to be posted.

In the Female Hammer, Alysha Gullison came in 12th with a 33.70 metre throw, followed by Maddie Nicholson with a 25.78 metre toss. In the Final Standings, Gullison was 12th and Nicholson 13th.

In Canoe Kayak, in the C-1 500 Metres, Kaleb Parry paddled to fourth in Heat 2 in 2:30.720 and then third in the consolation heat in 2:29.900. Parry finished eighth overall.

In the C-2 1000 Metres, Kaleb and Mason Parry came in fourth in Heat 2 in 5:27.450 and third in the Consolation Heat in 5:16.950. They finished eighth overall.

In the K-2 1000 Metres, Rogan Parry and Bruce Porter paddled to a fourth place finish in Heat 1 and came in third in the Consolation Final in 4:00.660. They finished eighth overall.

In Road Cycling, in the Female Individual Time Trial, Mara Roldan came in 13th overall in 20:05.52. Ava Irving-Staley finished 18th in 20:26.06, Elizabeth Archibald came in 31st in 22:13.60 and Mathilde Roldan finished 34th in 22:59.79.

In the Male Individual Time Trial, Mack Jenner finished 41st in 32:20.67 and Spencer Littlefair came in 45th in 34:07.61.

In Female soccer, Team Yukon got off to a rough start with a lopsided loss to a powerful Ontario squad.

In indoor volleyball, the female Yukon team fell 3 sets to 1 to Team N.W.T. in a competitive match. They lost to Newfoundland and Labrador 3-0 today.

In male indoor volleyball, Team Yukon lost to Newfoundland and Labrador 3 sets to 1 in an ultra-competitive match Tuesday. They then rebounded with a 3-1 set victory over P.E.I. today.