Canada Moves High Performance Centre to New Pan Ams Pool

Swimming Canada has moved its Ontario-based High Performance Centre from the old University of Toronto pool to the brand new Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre absed on the UT-Scarborough campus, according to a press release.

“This is a world-class daily training environment for our athletes and will give our High Performance Centre a real boost,” said Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson.

The center in Canada’s biggest city has been a focus of Swimming Canada since they brought in Ben Titley after the 2012 Olympics to lead the group. Titley was hired away from Britain’s top training center in the last quadrennial at Loughborough.

For years, much of Canada’s elite swimming culture has been centered on its west coast in British Columbia, but hopes are that the new sports complex in Toronto will help build it into a second hub for an expanded Canadian program. Toronto is the birthplace of a fair amount of Canada’s talent, including Olympian Martha McCabe, Zack Chetrat, and Michelle Williams, who are all a part of Titley’s training group.

The latest addition to that group is Sandrine Mainville, who moved their from Montreal recently both to join the training group and attend law school.

The facility includes two 50-meter pools, a 25-meter diving well, and other high-performance support systems including a nutritionist, dryland and weights facilities, and physio facilities.

“It’s about creating an environment where success can flourish,” Titley said. “It’s a high-performance environment where athletes have the space and time to do a comprehensive pre-pool routine, there are rooms for school work between sessions, designated kitchens, an indoor running track, designated gym space for athletes. I don’t think I’ve been in a better gym and it’s only for performance athletes.”

In parallel with the move, Swim Ontario has launched the “Ontario Swimming Academy” program where targeted athletes and their coaches will be invited to participate in high performance programs led by Dean Boles. The primary function of the academy is three-day camps aimed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.