Swimming Canada Needs New Venue After Montreal Pool Closing
-
By Ava Tremblay
- —
Summary:
- Swimming Canada has made a surprising announcement weeks before the Olympic and Paralympic trials.
- Montreal’s Olympic pool has been closed over an extended period of four to six months.
- A contingency plan is underway for finding a new location
The 1909-established national governing body for competitive swimming in Canada, Swimming Canada, has made a shocking announcement that took everyone by surprise just a few weeks ahead of the upcoming trials for the Olympics and Paralympics.
Swimming Canada took it to X to announce that they have been informed of the extended closure of the Olympic Pool in Montreal.
According to a news release issued by the Olympic Park on Wednesday, the Montreal Tower will stay closed for the upcoming four to six months because of a fire incident that took place last month, on March 21.
This means Swimming Canada has very little time to find a new venue for the important trials.
Extended Damage, No Injuries in the Fire
Swimming Canada announced that it received the memo informing them of the extended period of closure on Wednesday.
While the fire luckily did not cause any injuries, the Olympic Park explained that they noticed significant damage to the tower because of the water and smoke infiltration from firefighters’s attempts to extinguish the fire.
The entire athletic sports complex together with all of the tower’s 14 floors has been affected by the fire.
Looking for Solutions
Now, the body is working hard on a contingency plan for the upcoming national swimming trials, which were originally set to take place between May 13 and May 19.
Swimming Canada further explained they would attempt to maintain the original dates for the swimming trials while trying to keep the trials in the Montreal area just ahead of the Paris Games.
The Paris 2024 Olympics will start on July 26, followed by the official start of the Paralympics set for August 28.
Shocking Development for the Canadian World of Swimming
The massive announcement took the entire Canadian swimming world by surprise, in the context of Canadians being world-renowned as global leaders in high-performance swimming as well as the development of both able-bodied swimmers and swimmers with a disability.
Canada’s Olympic history before the upcoming Paris Olympics in 2024 showcases an impressive number of 55 Olympic medals in swimming, making it second-most among all summer sports.
Swimming icon Summer McIntosh of Toronto is one of the country’s greatest bets for a medal at the Olympics.
