The Yukon Invitational swim meet once again provided the outlet for some impressive performances from the Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club this past weekend.

Whether it's the hometown advantage, or the rest many of the local athletes get in the month leading up to the event, one thing is for certain the Bears always make the most of the Yukon Invitational, breaking club, B.C. and national records, as well as setting dozens of personal bests.

Two years ago, local swimming sensation Alexandra Gabor set the Canadian record for 10-year-olds in the 1,500-metre freestyle at the invitational a record that still stands. On Friday evening, she was at her best again, setting yet another national record in the same distance but for 12-year-olds, by more than five seconds.

It was a record that had stood since 1983, and one Gabor had been trying to break since November. It took until her last competitive meet as a 12-year-old she'll be aging up this month but she got it done, making for an impressive finish to what has been a great short-course season. The long-course season begins at the end of this month for the Bears.

'I was looking on the board at about 1,400 metres, saw my time and thought, Oh my God, I only have a few metres left,'' Gabor said with a smile. 'So I swam faster and I was just really happy when I got to the end (and found out she'd broken the record).'

Coach Marek Poplawski said he was fairly confident from the start that Gabor would break the record during Friday's swim.

'She was on pace right from the beginning,' he stated. 'It was a very nice swim.'

Also on the weekend, Gabor missed breaking the Swim B.C. 800-m free record by just two seconds. She did set four B.C. records the previous weekend, at the Island Invitational in Victoria, competing in the 13-14 age group. The top times came in the 50-m and 400-m free, as well as twice in the 200-m free once in the preliminary heats and again in the final.

Gabor's results in Victoria earned her the right to compete for Team B.C. at an international age group competition in Baltimore, Maryland in June.

It's because of that recent success that Poplawski doesn't think Gabor will need too long to adjust in the higher age group this summer. Pretty soon, he pointed out, she'll be up against senior swimmers at the Pan Pacific Trials in July.

'She won't medal there, but she will be able to focus on personal bests, how to train, how to race and get better.'

Also competing in Victoria was Yukon's Geoffrey Thompson, who set four personal best times and made the final in the 400-m IM, competing in the male 15-and-over category.

Thompson was one of 75 Glacier Bears who caught the attention of local spectators at the Canada Games Centre this past weekend, in a meet which also featured 10 swimmers from Haines, AK., five from Fairbanks, eight from Special Olympics Yukon, four from the North American Indigenous Games team and two masters athletes.

Kirsten Berube, competing in the 11 and 12-year-old division, set a AAA qualifying time in the 50-m free. It's the first AAA time for Berube, who said Gabor provided some inspiration for the personal-best swim.

'I did feel faster (than usual), because I was trying to keep up with someone else. I didn't (keep up), but I was trying to keep up with Alex.

'It's never gonna happen,' she laughed. 'But it helped me.'

On Friday, Brice Harding swam a personal best in the 200-m IM race, making the AA qualifying time for Lower Mainland regionals, which will be held in June. Harding also claimed a AA time in the 400-m free. He was one of six athletes who achieved qualifying times for regionals.

Connor Oliver-Beebe qualified in the 400-m free, Spencer Sumanik in the 200-m IM and 400-m free, Jason Zrum in the 400-m free, Josh Kelly in the 50-m free and 200-m breast (also a club record), and Mark Verhalle in the 50-m free.

There were eight Glacier Bears club records broken on the weekend, bringing the total so far in this swim season to 110.

'(The Yukon Invitational is) an opportunity for our swimmers to see how they're improving against their own times,' explained Kathy Zrum, one of the coaches for the local swim club and an organizer of the event. 'It puts them into that competitive environment so they can exceed and helps us coaches see how the kids have improved.

'The kids spend a lot of time working hard, so this is results for them. They can see they have improved, all the hard work has paid off.'

The president of the Glacier Bears club, Brian Edelman, commented that the local swimmers have already met and slightly exceeded the goals which were set for this year. Zrum said it's a testament to the coaching provided by Poplawski since his arrival a couple of years ago.

'What Marek has set up is working and we're seeing the results of that now. He's doing a topnotch job here. We're just so lucky to have him.

'The swimmers really respect Marek and want to work hard for him. They have a good relationship.'

Poplawski said he's been very pleased with the improvement he's seen this season, especially at the Polar Bear level, where 16 or 17 of the swimmers have qualified for AA regionals this year, compared to three or four that were qualified when he first arrived in the territory.

The key, said the head coach, has been a different structure of workouts and practices, allowing each swimmer to keep improving and really go forward from level to level.

Increased parental support has also been huge for the club, as evidenced by the dozens who volunteered their time as officials and timekeepers for this past weekend's swim meet.

'It's hard for them sometimes, because they have kids swimming too and they want to watch and cheer them on,' said Zrum. 'We really appreciate the parents going that extra mile for the club and Swim Yukon.'

Zrum said the Yukon Invitational was deemed a success all around by everyone, but for next year, she'd like to see more clubs from outside of the territory attend. It might mean changing the date of the annual event, but more competition, especially from B.C., would be great for the swimmers.

Here are the aggregate winners from this past weekend's swim meet. Aggregate winners are determined by the top-scoring swimmer in each age group, based on the total of points scored for a maximum of six swims:

8-and-under

Male

1st Casey Bradford, Haines

2nd Dakota Dragomir, Fairbanks

3rd Tristian O'Donoghue,

Fairbanks

Female

1st Alexandria Chapman Haines

2nd Erin McArthur Bears

3rd Bonnie Oleson Haines

9-10 years

Male

1st Craig Berube, Bears

2nd Keegen Sundberg, Haines

3rd Ty Edmonds, Bears

Female

1st Isobel Parkkari, Bears

2nd Taylor Campbell, Bears

3rd Emily Shipman, Fairbanks

11-12 years

Male

1st Thomas Chretian, Bears

2nd Mark Verhalle, Bears

3rd Josh Kelly, Bears

Female

1st Cascade Galasso, Haines

2nd Kirsten Berube, Bears

3rd Kate McArthur, Bears

13-14 years

Male

1st Jason Zrum, Bears

2nd Spencer Sumanik, Bears

3rd Connor Oliver-Beebe, Bears

Female

1st Bronwyn Pasloski, Bears

2nd Molly Purser, Bears

3rd Aurora Cherian-Kuni, Bears

15-and-over

Male

1st Brendan Zrum, Bears

2nd Tanner Cassidy, Bears

3rd Geoffrey Thompson, Bears

Female

1st Erin O'Connor, Bears

2nd Ariana Edelman, Bears

3rd Kimberly Homes, Bears

The Whitehorse Glacier Bears also handed out their year-end awards at the end of the Yukon Invitational swim meet.

Those results will be printed in Tuesday's Star.