The COVID-19 pandemic has forced another postponement of the Canada Olympic and Paralympic Trials to June 19-23, Swimming Canada announced Wednesday.
Trials will still be held at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Center, but the governing body is also exploring options to host Trials at another North American location should COVID-19 conditions remain dangerous in Ontario. The dates would remain the same, and Swimming Canada is pledging to make any changes by the end of May.
Canadian Olympics and Paralympic Trials were originally scheduled for April, then postponed to May 24-28. Now, a surge in Canadian COVID-19 cases and a sluggish vaccine rollout is forcing a further delay. The decision was reached in an emergency board meeting Monday and announced to athletes Wednesday on a conference call. Swimming Canada last week expressed optimism that it wouldn’t have to change Trials.
Paralympic Trials are cancelled, and Swimming Canada will “create alternative competitive opportunities.” The dates of Canadian Olympic Trials conflict with a global event in Berlin.
“In light of the state of emergency and stay-at-home order in Ontario, as well as travel restrictions in and out of other provinces, Swimming Canada’s board of directors, in consultation with management, has determined that the May dates for Trials are no longer viable,” Swimming Canada President Cheryl Gibson said in a press release. “We have therefore asked management to explore plans to hold the Trials in June.”
“We understand the great strain governments, provinces, and municipalities have been under in Canada and this is in no way a judgement of their hard work and having to constantly change almost on a daily basis during the pandemic,” CEO Ahmed El-Awadi said. “Our goal is to provide an opportunity for the athletes to race prior to the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Swimming Canada has already provisionally named six Olympians to their delegation for the Tokyo Olympics:
- Kylie Masse, 100 and 200 backstroke
- Maggie MacNeil, 100 butterfly
- Penny Oleksiak, 200 freestyle
- Sydney Pickrem, 200 breaststroke, 200 and 400 individual medley
- Taylor Ruck, 100 freestyle
- Markus Thormeyer, 200 backstroke
The organization is also working with provincial governing associations (Ontario being one of the most affected provinces) to see if other elite racing opportunities can be set up in the country.
“The Swimming Canada Olympic Program selection committee has already invoked the ‘unexpected circumstances’ clause in our criteria to select the Olympic team, and the selection committee for the Paralympic Program will be meeting to consider the implications of the decisions,” High Performance Director and National Coach John Atkinson said. “The Olympic selection committee will work to determine the best methodology to nominate the team under this clause. We are now looking at other ways to create opportunities for swimmers to post official times to stand for consideration. We are considering all options to choose the best teams to represent Canada in the fairest way possible under very difficult circumstances. We will leave no stone unturned as we work to give our athletes the best possible opportunities to race and a chance to represent Canada.”
“This is another difficult decision in a series of difficult decisions over the past year-plus,” El-Awadi said. “Making changes to an event of this scale is an incredibly complex undertaking with many variables. We are working with multiple levels of government, sport partners, public health organizations, laws, regulations, athletes and coaches, facilities such as TPASC and provincial sections that are each facing different realities. More communication will be held with Paralympic and Olympic trials invitees and coaches in due course. We thank our community for their patience and adaptability over the past few months and look forward to seeing fast swimming again soon.”
