Swimming Canada on Friday announced the cancellation of two additional meets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Canadian Masters Swimming Championships, scheduled for May 21-23 in Quebec City, are cancelled. So are the combined Canadian Junior and Senior Championships, schedule for Calgary from July 26-Aug. 2.
“Sadly, we are making another announcement about cancelling events, which has become all too familiar over the past year. That said, it is once again done with the health and safety of our swimming community, and the wider community, at the forefront,” Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi said in a press release. “Due to the high number of participants expected at these events, it would not be possible to put the proper distancing protocols in place to ensure these events run safely. In addition, the amount of travel required to attend these events was a major factor in the decision.”
Swimming Canada cites in the release that part of the reasoning is that “many swimmers and clubs have been unable to train consistently.” It continues to work with national, provincial and local governments and health authorities to craft its plans for the year.
Swimming Canada remains on schedule to host its invitational-only Olympic Trials postponed to May, though it has hedged its bets there with the provisional naming of six to the Olympic team for the Tokyo Games. The organization also left open the possibility of new or unique events to replace those that have been cancelled. On such instance was last week’s announcement of the 2021 University Swimming Challenge to replace the U SPORTS Championships.
“We hope it will not be long before it is safe for us to announce new events and opportunities. We thank our swimmers, coaches, administrators, volunteers, officials and partners for their patience, and look forward to seeing them on a pool deck soon,” El-Awadi said. “We encourage our swimming community to get back into indoor or outdoor pools or even open water as facilities reopen and weather improves.”