A new season and a new coach have the Whitehorse Glacier Bears poised for success.

The club was in Victoria, B.C., this past weekend to compete in the PCS Xmas Cracker Invitational.

Sixteen Yukon swimmers competed against 604 athletes from across B.C., Alberta, and the United States.

It was the clubs first outside meet of the season and several Yukon athletes swam their way into the finals, including Mackenzie Downing who placed first overall in the 200 metre fly race with a time of two minutes and 10 seconds.

One of the clubs youngest competitors, 12-year-old Dannica Nelson, also gave a great performance, finishing fourth overall in the under 100 m free race.

"Dannica really stood out,” said head coach Stephanie Dixon. "She's taking on a role model position even though she's younger and I think she'll grow to be a great leader on this team.”

Each member of the club swam in the morning preliminary races and those with the best times moved on to the evening's finals.

"It's really special when someone from the Yukon makes a final,” said Dixon. "The kids really get behind them, and especially somewhere like B.C., which is one of the most competitive swimming provinces in the country.”

Dixon said that while the club achieved impressive results in the pool, she was most proud of their support for one another.

"It's incredible,” she said. "I've been swimming for 15 years and I've never been part of anything like it.

"We were one of the smallest teams in Victoria but we were the only team that had every single person cheering for all our swimmers.”

"If one of our swimmers is up the entire team is there cheering,” said Nelson. "Even if they are just standing at the blocks we are all there cheering.”

Dixon, who is in her first year of coaching, said she was extremely proud to be the leader of the group after they displayed such sportsmanship and support.

Dixon started with the club in September and said she felt some pressure because of the teams past success but she was quickly welcomed and supported by the group.

She says her main priority this season is to develop individual relationships with the swimmers, saying that the athletes are more receptive to technical expertise once they have a trusting relationship with their coach.

"We'll swim some fast times, for sure, but it's all about the team environment and building relationships,” she said.

Nelson, who is swimming for her sixth year with the Glacier Bears, says the new

coach is doing a great job.

"She's a really good coach and really supportive,” she said.

"She makes swimming a lot of fun and finds way to help you improve.”

With around 110 members in the club Dixon is responsible for coaching the clubs top two tiers, the Silver Tips and the Kodiaks.

The Silver Tips are in the pool seven days a week while the Kodiaks practice five days a week.

Dixon said it takes a lot of discipline to stay continually motivated but because the swimmers have developed such close personal relationships it helps make the training a social event.

"It's a good physical and social activity,” she said. "It's a really strong sense of community.”

The next event for the Glacier Bears will be time trails at the Canada Games Centre on January 28.