Glacier Bears place seventh in Edmonton

About half the Whitehorse Glacier Bears attending the 30th Annual Edmonton Keyano International swim meet last weekend experienced something new.

About half the Whitehorse Glacier Bears attending the 30th Annual Edmonton Keyano International swim meet last weekend experienced something new.

The competition was held in a 50-metre pool, instead of the 25 metres found at the Whitehorse Lions Aquatic Centre. 

“It seems so far to the other end,”  commented one of the young swimmers.

Because there are fewer turns in each race, swimmers do not have the advantage of being able to push off the wall as often.  All international competitions are long course events.

The Glacier Bears finished solidly in seventh place in the team standings at the event, which was attended by 17 clubs from Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon. 

Leading the way for the Glacier Bears was Josh Kelly, winning silver in the 100-m breast and bronze in the 200-m breast and the 50-m free.  Kelly also placed sixth in the 100-m free and seventh in the 200-m free in the boys 13-14 age group.

Kirsten Berube swam a number of finals in the girls 13-14 category, coming away with bronze in the 50-m free, finishing sixth in the 100-m breast, seventh in the 400-m free, ninth in the 100-m free and 10th in the 200-m breast.  Berube also swam the 1500-m free for the first time, completing the gruelling event in 20:03 minutes, good enough for 10th place.

Haley Braga, competing in the girls 12-and-under age group, was first alternate for the finals in many of her events.  She finished eighth in the 100-m free, achieving a AAA time in that event.

Spencer Sumanik, swimming in the 15-and over category, placed seventh in the demanding 200-m butterfly and eighth in the 100-m fly. 

Meanwhile, 12-year-old Craig Berube swam to a seventh place finish in the long 400-m individual medley, sprinted to eighth in the 50-m free and 10th in the 200-m back. 

Erin Oliver-Beebe had a number of challenging events, including the 800-m free, the 200-m fly and the imposing 400-m individual medley, which she swam twice in one day, finishing in 10th place. 

Rebecca Leslie achieved a personal best time in the 200-m free and had good swims in both the 400 and 800-m free. 

Jason Zrum came away with personal bests in the 50 and 100-m free, as well as a ninth place finish in the 1500-m free.  Kate McArthur had strong swims in both the 100 and 200-m back.

A number of the Whitehorse girls competed in the girls 13-14 age group.  In their first ever long course meet, Patti Wallingham and Nadia Petriw both improved with each day throughout the weekend.  Julia Fedoriak swam a strong butterfly leg in the 400-m IM relay on the final day of the competition when everyone was feeling quite tired.  Taylor Campbell, who recently aged up to this group, was a strong swimmer in all the relays.

Coaches Marek Poplawski and Kathryn Zrum felt the team gained valuable race experience at this long course meet. 

Zrum said:  “We saw lots of excellent team spirit.” 

“It was a good opportunity for team building in preparation for the Canada Summer Games,” added Poplawski.

Article provided by Alice Purser on behalf of the Whitehorse Glacier Bears.