Swimming Canada Moves Canadian Olympic Trials to Toronto

Photo Courtesy: Michael P. Hall/Swimming Canada

Swimming Canada Moves Canadian Olympic Trials to Toronto

Swimming Canada on Monday announced that it will shift Canadian Olympic Trials to Toronto after the closure of Montreal Olympic Park due to fire damage.

The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, which hosted trials for each of the last two Olympics, will do the job again. The dates of May 13-19 remain as originally scheduled.

“It wasn’t an easy decision and it won’t be perfect but we believe, taking all into consideration, it is the best decision with only five weeks to go before the meet,” Swimming Canada Acting CEO Suzanne Paulins said in an organization statement. “The local organizing committee put together by the Fédération de natation du Québec did incredible work to help us evaluate all the possible contingencies. We also received support from the City of Montreal, Tourism Montreal, Centre Sportif du Parc Olympique and Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard. Their partnership, collaboration and willingness to help is greatly appreciated. No one anticipated this, but everyone did their best to find viable solutions.”

A fire on March 21 caused significant damage to the Montreal Olympic Park pool, which will require four to six months to repair smoke and water damage. It had been scheduled to hold Canada’s selection event for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

Instead, that job goes to TPASC, which hosted the 2015 Pan American Games. The move brings trials closer to the home base of Swimming Canada’s primary high performance training group in Toronto.

The decision was made in consultation with Swimming Canada’s High Performance Coach Advisory council as well as the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees and other stakeholders. Other options in Montreal and Quebec City were vetted but didn’t make the cut. Swimming Canada cited, “the athlete voice (as) strongest in advocating for TPASC.”

“There have been multiple issues to consider in making this decision, and everything has been very carefully considered. Representing Team Canada at Olympics and Paralympics is the pinnacle of our sport. We had to minimize compromise for our athletes in order for them, along with their coaches, to maximize their performance,” High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson said. “This was very critical in getting to this decision. When considering a hundredth of a second is all important in our sport when striving to make standards, this will be the right decision to safeguard performances.”

“A lot of us are really excited at the prospect of coming to Toronto to swim Olympic & Paralympic Trials,” said national tamer Javier Acevedo, also the co-chair of the High Performance Athletic Advisory Council. “It’s the fastest pool in Canada. We’ve seen so many fast swims here like Summer (McIntosh’s) world records, Kylie Masse’s exceptional swims, and Josh Liendo’s world No. 1. Knowing where we are now helps us plan for May 13-19. Thank you to Swimming Canada leadership for a quick decision to allow athletes to return our focus on competing at our best.”

Montreal will retain the right to host the 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials.

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