Swimmer Mia Barrault earned her two medals, silver in the 50-metre and bronze in the and 100-metre breaststroke events at the Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current, Sask. on the weekend. She was the first Yukon athlete to medal at the Games.

Barrault said breaststroke is her favourite of the four strokes in swimming.

“It is, I’ve been doing that stroke for a while now,” said Barrault. “It’s started getting successful this year.”

In the 100-metre event, Barrault’s personal best in breaststroke is 1:15.81 which is a national time for 15-year-olds. At the Games, she swam 1:18.75 in the 100-m just a little over her best time.

Going into the medal races she was unsure of what to expect.

“You can’t control how anyone is going to swim or the conditions of the pool,” said Barrault. “So I was like ‘just go for it, just race’, and I was definitely expecting the highest rankings in breaststroke.”

Barrault spoke about what it was like to touch the wall in her medal races.

“I wasn’t exactly sure if I medalled or not because they don’t have it on the website right away,” said Barrault. “I was kind of surprised, but they were like ‘you got a medal’ so the next thing I know I’m on the podium holding the flag.”

Winning medals at the WCSG was beyond expectation, said Barrault.

“It was a really big honour,” said Barrault about representing the Yukon. “I’ve never gotten to represent the Yukon at a Games before so It was really, really cool. To win medals was really amazing.”

The Western Canada Summer Games are one of the hardest competitions Barrault said she has competed in. Her coach Bronwyn Pasloski agreed.

“I thought there were some really good athletes,” said Pasloski. “The other alternative was athletes turned down Nationals to go to this meet. So it was some high-calibre swimming.”

After medalling early on at the Games she said it made her more nervous heading into her other events.

“It put more pressure on the other races I found,” said Barrault. “In my 200 breaststroke I had just won two other medals in other events so I just told myself to swim.”

Barrault came fifth in the 200-metre breaststroke and said she prefers the shorter distance races.

“I find them less stressful,” said Barrault. “I find the 200 really stressful. I just find the 50 breaststroke is just splash- and-dash.”

After medalling, Barrault said her teammates were stoked for her and were cheering wildly while waving the Yukon flag.

Barrault said she is proud of her accomplishments.

“I’m really happy about it,” said Barrault. “When you are there you are among other medallists and athletes doing amazing things. When you get home, people are texting you ‘good job, congratulations’, and you realize it’s a big deal.”

The Yukon swim team, Pasloski said had a very successful swim meet with lots of best times posted across the board.

“There were 13 swimmers and every swimmer had a swim per day and there was nothing less than eight best times per session,” said Pasloski.

Pasloski believes the swim program in the Yukon is on the up with successful years ahead.

“This year has been a year of transition for us,” said Pasloski. “There was a lot of ups and downs but I think coming out of this summer it’s been really great. We saw that with the kids getting best times and it’s been a turning point for us and becoming a little bit more competitive.”

Barrault’s next goal is focusing on Olympic trials next April.

“I want to qualify and go to the trials,” said Barrault. “I think I have a really good shot.”

Having competed at the WCSG Barrault believes she has a better grasp on what her competition will be like heading into next season.

“I’ll know what to expect a little bit more for the next meets,” said Barrault. “I will definitely have to work on my other strokes.”

Barrault said butterfly and backstroke will need the most improvement but she was still satisfied with her times at the Games even though they weren’t best times.

Heading into next season Paloski said she is there to support Barrault and all the swimmers reach their goals and take it up a level.