Swimming Canada is currently searching for a new location to host the Canadian Olympic Trials scheduled for May 13-19 after a fire erupted on the Montreal Olympic Tower less than two weeks ago.
Swimming Canada has announced that it will keep the event in the Montreal area on the originally planned dates of May 13-19.
“We know that day-by-day plans for an Olympic and Paralympic year are laid out months in advance,” said Swimming Canada Acting CEO Suzanne Paulins.
“We are also aware that, with Trials less than six weeks away, most participants have booked travel to, and accommodations in, Montreal. We are working hard on contingency plans to hold the event in Montreal on the scheduled dates of May 13-19.”
Update on 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Trials presented by Bell. pic.twitter.com/16V9qOkAcg
— Swimming Canada / Natation Canada (@SwimmingCanada) April 3, 2024
“As our High Performance Centre – Quebec is based at the Olympic Pool, our immediate concern was for those Paralympic Program swimmers to continue their training uninterrupted. We arranged an alternate training location for the short term, but Wednesday we were informed that the closure would be of a much longer term affecting Trials.”
Originally, it was announced that the Olympic Park sports center would be inaccessible until at least April 2nd. Olympic Park spokesperson Cedric Essiminy had said. “On April 2nd, we will have a broader view of what’s been affected and what needs to be done. We will also be able to give a correct schedule how we can open.”
Last year, Canadian Trials for Worlds were held in Toronto, which is about a six hour drive from Montreal. The 2022 Canadian Trials were held in Victoria, on the west side of the country.
The Olympic Park in Montreal is one of three High-Performance Centers for Swimming Canada. The other two are located in Toronto and Vancouver. Montreal’s Olympic Park has two 50-meter pools with 10 lanes each as well as a separate diving well that is 25 meters x 21 meters.
Regarding the status of tickets, Swimming Canada said it “will make best efforts to ensure fans receive comparable seating to what was originally purchased” once a new venue is finalized.
Swimming Canada did the sensible thing. TPASC is the only logical choice for Trials in this situation.
Yes while this was pretty clear from the start, it sounds like they made a best effort/diligence to exhaust alternatives in the meantime, and have put in place reasonable efforts to accommodate those inconvenienced or out of pocket (and given Quebec the 2026 trials).
https://www.swimming.ca/en/news/2024/04/08/trials-location-moving-to-toronto/
Choosing an older venue for such a significant event doesn’t seem prudent initially. This incident could serve as a cautionary signal. Fortunately, it occurred prior to the trial, not during it. I believe it’s crucial for people to heed this lesson and avoid selecting another aging venue.
Let’s forget about TPASC, the decision is already made :-(((( It’s heartbreaking to read all those comments from people hoping that athlete’s interest will be taken in consideration
You are sadly…probably correct. But, never let the bastards get you down. Even if this gets downgraded to a sub-par pool, SC needs to be held accountable and they should probably (the board) be removed for feckless management. Not having a backup plan for an event that happens once every 4 years is inexcusable.
As SC takes so much time to announce their decision, I hope TPASC is still in the play. Keeping my fingers crossed. We have to know within 1-2 days, if not hours
What if the similar incident happen during the trial if an aged sub-par facility is chosen?
In an Olympic year, if you had scheduled it at TPASC, you could possibly move it to Markham which also has a 10-lane competition pool (only 20 min away). And you still have other options in Toronto albeit far less desirable (Olympium- 8-lanes…just like Victoria where trials were held a few years ago), U of T is also old and not really great. All of this to say that Toronto (and many other larger Canadian cities) are profoundly under-serviced for 50M LC pools. You could easily put new 50M facilities in Mississauga, Hamilton, Ajax/Whitby/Pickering that are desperately needed (not a multi-plex sport facility btw, just a 50M pool). Compared to Hungary and other countries we are inadequately providing even decent… Read more »
For everyone saying that politics is getting in the way of the meet being moved to Toronto, you are right. The things that Swimming Canada needs the political support and financing to put on a meet like this. The city of Montreal and the province of Quebec are major sponsors of the event and their money is essential. They also have a bunch of sponsors in the area for hotels. They can’t just move the meet without breaking/voiding a lot of large contracts. They also wouldn’t have time to find new sponsors for Toronto in a 5 week notice. They can’t reserve a large number of hotel rooms for swimmers and spectators. Moving the meet out of the Montreal region… Read more »
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Bell is the title sponsor. It’s a NATIONAL sponsorship and goes wherever the meet is as do the other sponsors. Speedo would be much happier to have this meet in Toronto as they have their HQ and majority of swimming retailers in the Toronto area. As far as I can tell, based on population, Ontario would consume the most volume of chicken in the country (since the chicken farmers of Canada are premier sponsors- Swiss Chalet vs St. Hubert) and the govt of Canada, the other major sponsor probably should just keep their mouth shut as they probably are still paying for the Olympic Stadiium construction costs from 1976. This isn’t some… Read more »
Bell is the presenting sponsor but if you go to the Trials page on the Swimming Canada website you can clearly see that the city and province as well as the government of Canada are all sponsors of the event
There are times when people need to step up and do the right thing. If Quebec and the city of Montreal and sponsors can’t recognize the greater cause at stake here to recognize the importance of this event to swimmers who have spent their entire life for this shot at the Olympics then it’s a sad reflection on themselves. I don’t know how many nfl venues are changed in less than a week because of bad weather or stadium issues. And I’m not talking about in the same town or city or in some cases even State. Let’s be very blunt here. Any Montreal substitution is nothing but a suboptimal scenario but sure let’s put politics and money first. Maybe… Read more »
The city of Montreal and the province of Quebec are not gonna sponsor an event in Toronto. It would cause an outrage in the population
Did I say that in my comment. My comment assumed that they would be adults and not stand in the way. I would assume that the population would handle themselves in the same way Ontario does when the French language is plastered all over the public transit system or when Splash Manager has to be used for Ontario meets. Grow up.
And another thing, hotel sponsors… what are you taking about? Swim clubs book their own hotels. Marriott or Hilton will make $$ whether the rooms are booked in Toronto or Montreal. They don’t “give” away rooms.
Swimming Canada has deals with hotels for events to get a better group rate for swimmers. That way they can also reserve a certain number of rooms for an affordable fixed price. Especially because prices can skyrocket during events like these
Let’s stick to facts.
You assume (incorrectly) that SC has some massive leverage into the hotelier space. They just have a person who reaches out to Marriott or Hilton or whomever and asks them to please hold a block of rooms. These companies aren’t charities. And this isn’t like a 25,000 delegate international congress coming to town (or the Olympics!). It’s approximately 500 swimmers (20% are likely semi-local and won’t need rooms, nor shall their families) and most clubs double up athletes so perhaps it’s 200 or so rooms in total for swimmers and 100 for coaches. As for parents/families, let’s just say another 2000 rooms (this is a stretch) have been booked in advance. Hotels allow cancellations in… Read more »
This comment will get down votes but the athletes who are at the very top of Canadian Swimming should be given far and away priority attention to this by Swimming Canada and hopefully Swimming Canada is listening to them loud and clear.
At the end of the day – this competition’s first and primary reason for existing is to pick the best OLYMPIC TEAM Canada can field to compete in Paris.
I totally get other athletes train many years to qualify for the meet. But participating at an Olympic Trials is not at the core definition of what this meet is for.
So for example if 90% of the elite level National Team athletes – McIntosh, Liendo,… Read more »
Downvoters aren’t the affected swimmers.
You are restating excellent and logical points. Priority is 100% the athletes that are likely to vie for spots at the 2024 Summer Games. This is a crappy situation no doubt. But you have the BEST facility (fastest pool) ready, willing and able to make this happen and yet SC defers to some other logic (??). And, to state in a press release that “Our athletes are resilient, blah blah blah…” is frankly out of touch. Most of them probably are feeling incredibly anxious and unnerved by the uncertainty of this and are not able to laser-focus on their training now with this huge question-mark/distraction. They deserve the best opportunity and zero distractions.
Check out… Read more »
Agree 100 pcent. Make TPAS happen. To your point on the SC press release. I have never been impressed with their messaging but this makes it clear that the swimmers and the core purpose of this event are not the first and foremost priority at this time. Yet another CEO of SC that does not impress via the written word.
It would be great if they held it in Toronto but I doubt they are going to do that. That weekend is May 24 weekend. How are people going to get flights, train or bus tickets during this time? That’s truly a disaster for all the athletes that need to attend.
Since when is May 24 a weekend that is a heavy travel weekend?? Quebecers don’t celebrate Victoria Day (it’s Fete de Dollard- not a HUGE holiday). If you know anything about Toronto, it’s actually a ghost town on that weekend as locals go to their cottages/out-of-town. The city will be empty for the most part and travel will be no more difficult (in fact, probably easier on the 401) than any other weekend.
Move it to TPASC now.
Let’s switch it to Quebec city or Toronto – then have Swimming Canada reimburse those people for a switch in reservations for new flights – they should have insurance for the event. 😃.
Looks like a few of Canada’s best swimmers have started to weigh in (Maggie MacNeil & Ella Jansen on Instagram)— TPASC is their vote! Shocking…
Not surprising as this makes total sense. If Summer and Josh said TPASC would it tip the scales?