Just two years ago, Mackenzie Downing was a Whitehorse Glacier Bear, preparing to enter her first year at the University of Victoria.�

Now, the 19-year-old Yukoner is one of the up-and-coming swimmers on Canada's national team.

Downing has been training and attending classes at UVic for the past two seasons and while she has achieved impressive success on the national level, this past week marked her first time competing in a major international event.

The Pan Pacific swimming championships were held in Victoria and Downing didn't disappoint, reaching the final in both the 100-metre and 200-m butterfly.

She finished sixth in the 100-m fly, 2.46 seconds behind Australia's Jessicah Schipper, who won the race in a meet record time of 57.30 seconds. In the 200-m fly, Downing was seventh with a time of 2:10:53, after Schipper broke another record at 2:05.40.

Downing was also part of the Canadian women's team which set a national record in the 4x100 medley relay, clocking fourth with a time of 4:05.59. She finished the third leg of the relay, the butterfly, in 59.91 seconds.

Teammate Kelly Stefanyshyn set a time of 1:02.48 in the backstroke portion while Jillian Tyler recorded a time of 1:09.21 in the breastroke and Erica Morningstar 54.99 on the final, freestyle leg.

The previous Canadian women's record in the 4x100 medley relay was 4:05.69, set at the last Pan Pacs in 2002.

Canada was among several of the 19 national teams that used the Pan Pacs as their qualifying meet for the 2007 world aquatics championships in Melbourne next March, and with all of her success at the meet, Downing made the Melbourne team.�

The 18-member Team Canada for the worlds will not officially be nominated until later this month, but also qualifying at the Pan Pacs were Downing's fellow Victoria swimmers Ryan Cochrane Rick Say and Matt Rose.

'The four of us going to Melbourne ... Rick, Ryan and I are with Island Swimming and Mackenzie is with Pacific Coast (and the UVic Vikes) and we see a lot of her, too, on the pool deck at Saanich Commonwealth Place (Victoria) will make for a great environment heading to the worlds next March,' said Rose.

It's all another lesson for Downing, with the final exam coming in two years at the Beijing Olympic Games.�

'To make a final at your first big meet is a big thing and a step in the right direction,' said the soft-spoken Yukoner. 'In Canada, you get to the top, then you don't have that much competition.�

'You come here and you're nowhere near some people. It's good. It gives you something to work toward.'�

Whitehorse, with a population of more than 23,000, is more noted for producing great writers and poets, like Pierre Burton and Robert W. Service, than swimmers although there are a couple of youngsters currently swimming with the Whitehorse Glacier Bears who could very well change that.

Growing up in the Yukon capital, Downing got involved in swimming because her mother was a lifeguard at a local pool.�

'We spent a lot of time in the pool,' she said. 'It was a natural thing.

'I really love being in the water. When you're in the water, you're in your own world. You can block out what's going on around you. You can do your own thing. I like that about it.'�

While the water is a friendly environment, finding competitions to swim in required a lot of money and travel. That's one of the reasons Downing decided to attend university in Victoria.

'Here I get a lot more meet experience,' she said. 'You can go to three meets in a month. Back home, I couldn't do that.'�

Downing earned her spot on the Pan-Pac team by winning the 200-m butterfly and placing second in the 100-m fly at the trials held in Montreal last month.�

Her coach, Ron Jacks, said the teenager has the potential to swim at the Olympics.�

'I think we can see her in Beijing,' said Jacks. 'The biggest question is for her to be consistent and her health.'�

One thing that could derail Downing's Olympic dreams is her chronic knee problems.�

'She can barely walk,' said Jacks. 'She dislocates her knee very easily.�

'She can walk down the pool deck doing something, twist it, and she's out for months. That is something we've really had to watch.'�

It's a condition Downing has learned to deal with.�

'I've always had really loose joints,' she said. 'I sometimes have to lay off the kicks (in training) and I ice it every day after practice.'�

Like most kids leaving home for the first time, the adjustment to living in Victoria has sometimes been hard for Downing.�

'Victoria is not that big but it's bigger than Whitehorse,' she laughed. 'I also miss the snow.'�

Downing's teammates have tagged her 'Yukon.' It's a nickname she likes.�

'I'm really proud to be from there,' she said. 'I'm really happy I got to grow up there. I have a lot of experience that people down here don't get.'

Downing also sees herself as a role model for other kids from Whitehorse who want to swim at the Olympics.

'We didn't have anyone from Whitehorse that went to the international level,' she said. 'It's good for them to see that is possible.�

'You may have a lot of challenges coming from a small town, but it gives them confidence they can do it.'

With files from The Canadian Press.