With just a week to go until the competition gets underway at the Western Canada Summer Games in Edmonton, Thursday's practice involved a lot of fine-tuning for the Whitehorse Glacier Bears Swim Club.

Ten of the swimmers were at the Whitehorse Lions Aquatic Centre, working on their turns, their strokes and their dives. Two more, Alexandra Gabor and Bronwyn Pasloski, are currently competing at the Canadian senior championships in Calgary but will join the Bears in Edmonton.

'Alex and Bronwyn, we're hoping for medals (at the Games) for sure,' said coach Marek Poplawski in an interview following practice.

'We have some younger swimmers going too ... it will be a good experience for them for the Canada Summer Games, two years from now.

'I would like to see a lot of personal best times. That's what we'll be aiming for with the younger swimmers. It will be hard for them to make finals.'

After competing against the top swimmers in the country this weekend, Gabor and Pasloski should be in fine form to hit the podium in Edmonton. The majority of the athletes in Calgary are several years older than the two Yukoners, who are 14 and 15 years old, respectively. The Games will feature swimmers 17 and under.

Gabor and Pasloski are also coming off a multi-medal performance at the age group nationals in Quebec last weekend, despite two days of cold, rainy conditions in what was an outdoor facility, Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal.

Swimming in the girls age 14 category, Gabor captured gold in the 200- and 1500-m freestyle, along with silver in the 50-, 100-, 400- and 800-m free. She missed gold in the 50-m free by a mere six one-hundredths of a second. Her efforts included three personal best times.

Pasloski dominated the breast stroke events in the girls age 15 category. In the 200-m breast, she finished more than six seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer. Pasloski repeated that feat in the 100-m breast, leading by nearly three seconds, and captured bronze in the 50-m breast, marking another personal best time in that event. She also narrowly missed making the finals in the 200-m individual medley.

Tanner Cassidy and Brendan Zrum also represented the Glacier Bears at the age group nationals, both for the first time. Kirsten Berube qualified to attend the championships, but wasn't able to make the trip.

Cassidy finished the meet with two personal best times, in the 50-m fly and the 400-m free, while Zrum took time off in the 400-m free and missed a personal best by only five one-hundredths of a second in the 100-m free.

'It was good,' said Cassidy. 'I'm happy with where I am. My 50-metre fly ... that one I took a lot of time off.

'I recognized a lot of people I swim with in B.C., so it wasn't really a big shock for me.'

With just two qualifiers for the national event in 2006, the local club is showing their continued improvement, particularly the male swimmers.

'I was very pleased with the performances,' said Poplawski. 'It was a nice meet. In the finals, it seemed like the commentator was always mentioning Whitehorse.

'All the kids tried very hard at the meet and I'm very happy with results. Some people couldn't put us on the map at first but now they know.'

Poplawski said the experience gained at a meet of this calibre is invaluable for all the swimmers, especially with the adverse weather conditions at the outdoor venue.

'The weather was the same for everybody, it was not just our club,' he said. 'Some kids had to purchase warm clothes because they thought it would be sunny the while time. Next time, they'll be better prepared.'

Cassidy said he liked the outdoor pool, rainy weather and all, because it was nice to try something different.

Cassidy will be one of the 12 swimmers competing at the Western Canada Summer Games. After a long season of training about 18 hours a week he said it will be nice to put all of the hard work to good use in the pool once again next week.

'I think (the Yukon swim team) will do better than we usually do at the Games. I think we have a really good team this year.'

Ariana Edelman, who is also making the trip to Edmonton, hopes to set some personal best times. Her best event is the 100-m back.

'I'm just looking forward to seeing the other teams and all the different western provinces, meeting new people.'

The Games will be the final event of the season for most of the Glacier Bears, so they're in line for a well-deserved month off.

But for Gabor and Pasloski, there's another major meet just a few days after they finish up in Alberta. They've been selected by Swimming Canada to take part in the first ever North American Challenge Cup, Aug. 10-12 at the University of Southern California.

The meet will feature teams from Mexico, Southern California and Canada.

As well, both swimmers are vying for a spot on the Canadian youth/junior team which will travel to Europe next February, for meets in Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Selection of the team will be based on results of the age group nationals last weekend, as well as the senior nationals this weekend. Poplawski said both girls have a good chance to qualify for the team, particularly Gabor.