The only downside to Bronwyn Pasloski and Alexandra Gabor's recent swim meet in Australia was the flight home.

The two Whitehorse Glacier Bear members, along with their Canadian teammates, were on the plane that drew national coverage after it flew into an undetected thunderstorm heading out of Hawaii. The end result was some turbulence and a brief drop that had both Pasloski and Gabor thankful for wearing their seat belts.

"I thought I was going to die," said Pasloski. "I was just holding on for dear life."

Gabor said the whole ordeal was a blur.

"I wasn't even thinking really," she said. "All of a sudden it just dropped, like 2,000 feet, people hit their heads on the ceilings."

The plane ended up having to turnaround and fly back to Honalo, Hawaii as a result of some injuries.

Pasloski, who has competed all over the world, said she has never experienced anything like that and admitted to being a little nervous when the plane took off for the second time.

However, not even a near-plane crash could ruin the Australian meet for the two Yukoners, who achieved both medals and personal best times.

At the Australian Age Group Championships, Pasloski and Gabor combined for five medals, winning two gold, one silver and two bronze.

The Yukoners qualified for the Australian competition at the Spring Nationals, held earlier in the year in Toronto. The girls joined a Canadian team of 13 swimmers.

Gabor got Canada off to a great start in Australia, winning the country's first gold medal. Gabor not only placed first, but also set a new record in the B.C. 100-m free (15-17 girls category). Her time was 56.52, which was also a personal best in the 100-m freestyle.

"I think that meant the most for me because it was such a big improvement," she said. "I dropped a second off my other best time and also because I got the B.C. 15-17 age group record twice (once in the morning and again that evening). It was a fun race and it felt really good."

Gabor, who also finished first in the 200-m freestyle and earned a silver medal in the 400-m freestyle, said it's a different atmosphere swimming in Australia.

"There's so much more competition and aggressiveness there," she said. "It inspired me to be like if they can do it, so can I."

Pasloski placed third in the 100-m and 200-m breaststroke, but said she was more focussed on times than medals.

"The times were good, considering all the training we were doing."

In addition to her two medals, Pasloski finished fifth in the 200-IM, setting a new personal best time in the process.

After the swim meet, Pasloski and Gabor had a four-day training session with Australian Swim Coach Denis Cotterall.

The most important thing Pasloski walked away with from the training session was a new motto.

"'Pain is temporary and glory is forever,'" she said. "That's going to keep me going."

Glacier Bears coach Marek Poplawski praised the performance of both swimmers.

"Any medal at that level in Australia is just fantastic," he said. "It's good motivation for them."