Swimming Canada high-performance director John Atkinson says athlete performance was the deciding factor in moving the Olympic and Paralympic trials from Montreal to Toronto — and that no price tag was going to be too high considering the magnitude of the event and the stakes attached to it.
“When hundredths of a second are important, and one hundredth can make the difference to somebody’s lifelong ambition of being at the Paralympics or Olympics, being back here was the right decision to get to,” Atkinson told CBC Sports, standing on the pool deck of the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC).
“Within minutes people responded and stood together to help a sport that was in an emergency situation.”
A fire last month at the Olympic pool in Montreal, where the trials were originally scheduled to take place, has shut down the complex for months and sent Swimming Canada officials into scramble mode with just six weeks to go until the trials.
There was some anxiety and stress, and officials considered their options about where to move the event. Keeping it in Montreal was the first priority knowing that moving it to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre would come with a hefty price tag.
But after exhausting all avenues, Atkinson says there was no price too high when it came to moving it to Toronto. It was always going to come down to athlete performance and Atkinson says the TPASC facility was the only place that was going to allow athletes to compete to the best of their ability.
Consideration was given to Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard as well as the Pavillon de l’éducation physique et des sports de l’Université Laval – that’s roughly 250 kilometres away in Quebec City.
“We looked at every possible option of remaining in Montreal,” Swimming Canada acting CEO Suzanne Paulins said. “All three had different limitations and every factor was taken into consideration.”
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The country’s top synchronized swimmers usually practised at the Olympic Stadium three times a week, but damage from a fire last month forced the stadium’s pool to close. The team is now using the facilities at Cégep du Vieux Montréal.
Sport community comes together
Atkinson says the sport community in Canada came together very quickly to make a decision to move the trials to the TPASC facility.
“The stars had to align. And when I say that I’m talking about the sporting partners in Canada. We worked with our acting CEO and others, conversations with the Canadian Olympic Committee, Paralympic Committee, Sport Canada, Ontario Ministries. It all happened within a short period of time about how people could support what we needed to do,” Atkinson said.
“I’m not going into the details but we couldn’t have done it without everyone standing together.”
There is relief mixed with the understanding there’s still a lot of work ahead of them to get everything in place for the Toronto trials that begin May 13.
Atkinson isn’t the only one breathing a little easier with the trials moving to Toronto. Many of the Canadian swimmers are pleased with the decision.
In fact, the athlete voice played a pivotal role in the trials moving to TPASC.
“It was a pretty unanimous decision as far as the athletes were concerned,” said Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil.
“The pool in Montreal is great and I’ve swam there many times but knowing that it was out of commission this was obviously the best choice.”
WATCH | McIntosh clocks world’s fastest time of 2024:
Summer McIntosh of Toronto won the women’s 200-metre final with a time of 1:54.21, which is the fastest time in the world this year and the second-fastest of this season, at the Canadian Swimming Open which featured four swimmers (McIntosh, Mary-Sophie Harvey, Penny Oleksiak and Tessa Cieplucha) who competed at Tokyo 2020.
McIntosh broke 2 world records at TPASC pool
Summer McIntosh broke two world records at TPASC last March during the world championship trials. She trains in Florida but has spent a lot of time at the facility and has great memories at it.
“I’m very happy that it’s here. Coming back from last year, it’ll be fun. It’s such an amazing pool and I know it really well. Having the Toronto crowd in the stands is always great,” she said.
But it’s bittersweet for some athletes, including Mary-Sophie Harvey, who lives in Montreal and was looking forward to being surrounded by family and friends at the trials.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, I was really bummed because my whole family and friends were coming. I think I had about 40 people coming to cheer me on. And I know most of them won’t be coming here now,” Harvey said.
“My whole family is trying to do a trip to watch in Toronto, though, so that will be nice. It shows they’re supporting me. This pool is great. We all know it. It’s fast. I think it’s the best case scenario for what happened. It’s unfortunate.”
WATCH | Summer McIntosh reacts to swimming fastest 200m freestyle this year:
The 17-year-old swam a time of 1:54.21 at the 2024 Canadian Swimming Open.
Upwards of 800 athletes, coaches, trainers and support staff are now in the process of changing flight plans, hotel accommodations and logistics. In many cases, swimming clubs will be getting refunds for their hotel bookings. And Air Canada, a sponsor of the event, has offered to waive any change fees and fare differences.
Swimming Canada will also be setting up an assistance program to help with finding accommodations in Toronto.
Atkinson says he’s been working on building a national program that is adaptable and resilient. That’s now being put to the test in an impactful way.
And the athletes appear ready to respond.
“As an athlete all I need to know is time and place and I’ll be there. No stress on my side but it’ll be nice to swim in this pool again,” world champion Finlay Knox said.
“It has the title of fastest pool in Canada and I can’t complain about that.”
WATCH | Penny Oleksiak on making long-awaited return to pool in 2 years:
Olympic Champion posted a time of 1:59.75 in the 200m freestyle at the 2024 Canadian Swimming Open.
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