Being an elite athlete is about possessing the talent and commitment to get things done, but it's also about realizing what's in front of you and having the determination to seize every available opportunity.

Whitehorse Glacier Bears Bronwyn Pasloski and Alexandra Gabor already seem to have a good grasp on both, despite the fact they are just 15 and 14 years old respectively. With several years of competitive swimming experience under their belts, the two youngsters are the veterans among their Whitehorse Glacier Bear peers.

Pasloski and Gabor have seen their stock rise quickly on the Canadian swimming scene over the past couple of years, and spent the past summer accumulating impressive results at national level competitions. Their goal, at least for this year, was simple: a spot on the national youth development team.

After enjoying their podium moments as members of Team Yukon at the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games, the duo geared up to represent Team Canada at the first ever North American Challenge Cup in California later in August. At the same time, they were waiting to hear whether they had made the cut for an even bigger international event.

And thanks to all of their strong performances, Pasloski and Gabor got their wish. They were selected by Swimming Canada recently for the 2008 Canadian National Youth Team European Tour. The selection was based on their point totals from both the age group and senior national championship meets this year.

Swimmers are awarded FINA points for their placings in each individual event at the national meets, and the top 16 eight girls and eight boys under the age of 17 were chosen for the national youth team. Another 16 were chosen for the Canadian junior team, which will also travel on the European tour.

Gabor scored the most points overall for the youth age group while Pasloski was seventh in the country for points.

Also, Whitehorse Glacier Bears head coach Marek Poplawski was selected as the top youth coach for the team, thanks to his swimmers' performances. The coach of the highest scoring swimmer is automatically given the spot. The Canadian team will be accompanied by six coaches in total.

'I am very excited,' said Poplawski, in an interview Monday. 'It will be very interesting. To coach at the national level ... it's exciting. This is a big thing for a coach. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'

From January 15-28, the Canadian youth and junior teams will travel to meets in Switzerland and Luxembourg.

The European tour is part of the National Team Development Program, a developmental strategy used to assist swimmer development from age group elite to the senior national team. The key to the plan is to provide access to developmentally appropriate, high performance competitive opportunities, as well as exposure to enhanced training opportunities.

Over the last few years, many top performers leading the way for Canada internationally have graduated from the opportunities laid out in the National Team Development Program.

'It's about travelling, being part of a team,' stated Poplawski. 'They want them to get used to that earlier now.'

Both Pasloski and Gabor are already members of the Swim BC provincial team and just returned from a training camp in Vancouver. Gabor also participated in a Swimming Canada national team long-distance training camp held in Toronto in mid-September.

She was selected based on her seventh-place finish in the 800-metre free at senior nationals. Those finishing in the top eight at that meet were invited.

The two Whitehorse swimmers have previous experience travelling to international competitions, such as the one in California earlier this year, but Poplawski said Europe will be a much different scene.

'They've been to meets in Mexico and the U.S., but they were not this calibre,' he said. 'They will be exposed to different environments, new people and good competition.'

All members of the Glacier Bears, from Teddy Bears to Silvertips, are currently preparing for their first meet of the season. The Ryan Downing Memorial Meet will be held at the Whitehorse Aquatic Centre on October 26 and 27.

Two weeks later, many swimmers will compete in the Wishbone Invitational Meet in Fairbanks. Finally, Pasloski, Gabor and coach Poplawski travel to Toronto at the end of November for the Bell Grand Prix, also called the senior short course nationals.