It's a good sign of depth when a sports club can send athletes to three different competitions, at three different levels, the same weekend and come back with impressive results from every one of them including 12 medals, club records and dozens of personal best times.

It's not much of a surprise anymore when the Whitehorse Glacier Bears' major competitive swimmers like Alexandra Gabor and Bronwyn Paloski collect hardware outside, continuously moving up the rankings. And the rest of the Bears posting personal bests and grabbing medals at AA and AAA competitions doesn't exactly shock anyone either.

But when the youngest members of the swim club start dominating at regional meets, like the one in Haines, AK last weekend, that's when you know the club must be doing something right.

Gabor competed as a member of the B.C. provincial team at the Pacific Coast All-Star Meet in Beaverton, Oregon. This is an annual all-star meet with teams from Southern California, Central California, Oregon, Washington and B.C.

Comepting in the girls under-12 age group, Gabor finished first in the 100- and 200-metre free, as well as second in the 500-m free. Her sixth place finish in the 50-m backstroke set a new club record. She also anchored the B.C. girls' (ages) 11-12 A relay team, which finished first in the 200-m free, fourth in the 400-m medley, fourth in the 200-m medley, and second in the 400-m free relays.

Gabor's time in the 200-m free was the fastest this season in the girls under-12 age group in the entire United States.

Meanwhile, nine swimmers from the Glacier Bears six girls and three boys went up against 260 other competitiors in the Lower Mainland Regional AA Championships in Chilliwack, B.C.

Coach Kathy Zrum estimated the athletes achieved probably 95 per cent personal best times, bringing home 12 medals between them.

'They were in finals in almost every one of their events,' said Zrum. 'And the big thing is how much we improved our times from the preliminaries to the finals.

'Like Jason (Zrum), he knocked 12 seconds off his personal best in the preliminaries and then another four seconds in the final.'

Zrum said the level of competition was pretty even, not too easy, but not extremely tough. The main purpose of a meet such as AA regionals is to give the swimmers an opportunity to compete at a higher-level meet than an invitational or local even does.

In Chilliwack, there were actual podiums for the swimmers to stand on during their medal presentations and they played the national anthem before every competition.

'It's kind of a prestigious swim meet for them,' she said. 'You know that you're swimming with the better swimmers from B.C. (in the AA category).'

Another goal for the athletes at the AA championships is to post AAA times, in order to move up into the higher category. Last weeked, Glacier Bear Kim Holmes achieved that goal while winning the 200-m breast in the girls 14-and-over category.

Holmes nearly repeated that feat with a silver medal in the 100-m breast, and claimed gold in the 200-m IM. She also placed fifth in the 200-m back, 100-m back and 800-m free, and finalled in several other events.

'I thought I did very well,' said Holmes. 'I'm really happy with how I did. It wasn't too much of a high-level meet, but I definately had competition. The kids were a lot faster this year than last year when I went.'

Holmes said by the time she was done in the 200-m breast, she was pretty sure she had at least set a personal best, if not a AAA time.

'I was practically dead at the end. I went out really fast, so I was pretty sure I had done it when I finished. That was one of my goals going down there.'

Holmes said the difference for her this time around at the championships was more experience. She wasn't as nervous as she had been in the past, telling herself to just try her best and let everything fall as it may.

'It was basically all in my head before, I would get too nervous. This time, I just wanted to have fun and I got psyched up enough that I did it.'

Holmes was also pleased with her performance in the 200-m IM, where she shaved five seconds off her personal best in the preliminaries, followed by another two seconds in the final.

'I took off seven seconds in total, so I was pretty happy with that. There was a girl right beside me that I wanted to beat, so that helped. I wasn't going to let her win.'

The other Glacier Bears in Chilliwack also faired very well.

Competing in a tough 13-year-old category, Hailey Bielz won gold in the 800-m free and silver in the 400-m free. Bielz also placed fourth in the 200-m free and eighth in the 100-m free.

In the same age group, Molly Purser sprinted to gold in the 50-m free and won silver in the 100- and 200-m free, with only 18/100ths of a second between first and second place in the 200. Purser also placed fourth in the 800-m free and 200-m IM, fifth in the 200-m breast and seventh in the 100-m fly.

Anne Aubin, at her first AA championship meet, had solid swims throughout the weekend and a number of personal bests.

In the 11-and-under category, Kirsten Berube was strong in the backstroke, finishing third in the 100-m back and fifth in the 200-m back. She also placed fifth in the 200-m breast and 800-m free, and sixth in the 100-m breast.

In the same age group, Kate McArthur was in the finals in most of her events, grabbing bronze in the 100-m free, finishing fourth in the 50-m free and 200-m IM, sixth in the 200-m free, seventh in the 200-m breast and 800-m free, and eighth in the 100-m breast.

On the boy's side, Francis Aubin, competing in the 14-and-over category, claimed silver in the 100-m back and bronze in the 200-m IM, as well as fifth in the 100-m free and seventh in the 200-m free.

Jason Zrum, at a provincial meet for the first time, had seventh place finishes in both the 100- and 200-m back, in the boys 13-year-old category. Connor Oliver Beebe, in the same age bracket, finished ninth in an impressive swim, taking 40 seconds off his previous best time.

The third meet last weekend was held in Haines, AK, with a number of Glacier Bears taking part. The Winter Games North Swim Meet featured teams from Haines, Juneau and Petersburg, AK., as well as Whitehorse.

Bears' Craig Berube set new club records in the 100-m back and 100-m fly in the boys' 10-and-under age group, while Geoffrey Thompson's times in the 200-m fly and 400-m IM were also club records in the 15-17 age group.

This was the first meet outside Whitehorse for several swimers and they performed admirably. Despite the new experience of salinated water, disqualifications, a bloody nose and uncooperative goggles, novices Taylor Campbell and Julia Fedoriak rose to the occasion.

Veteran swimmer Geoffrey Thompson assisted coach Jim Thompson at the meet, providing great support for the younger swimmers. The competition was stiff in many age groups, but Ashley Bray, Hannah Val, Bryce Harding, Josh Kelly and Spencer Sumanik all swam a number of personal best times and enthusiastically encouraged their younger team mates.

Jim said he was 'beyond proud,' of the results posted by the memebers of his club.

While several members of the Glacier Bears will now prepare for the TAS B.C. AAA Provincial Swimming Championships, to be held in Surrey, B.C., next weekend, most of the younger athletes are off until April, when the Yukon Invitational will take place at the aquatic centre.

At the AAA championships, some of the swimmers will be working toward qualifying times for the Western Canada championships, which will take place at the beginning of March. Currently, only Gabor and Pasloski have qualified, but Zrum said Ariana Edelman and her son, Brendan, are close.