Swimming Canada to Restructure National Training Centers

OTTAWA, Canada, October 4. SWIMMING Canada is proud to announce a new strategy that will fund four national high performance centres and increase support for programs to develop successful international athletes.

Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson has overseen an unprecedented review of the organization’s centres, programs and overall high-performance strategy over the past six months. Atkinson joined Swimming Canada in March and immediately began taking steps to evaluate and review all aspects of high performance delivery, including the five existing National Swim Centres.

A five-person committee made up of senior technical staff and a representative of Own the Podium reviewed and scored each centre. Based on their ability to develop successful Canadian swimmers on the international stage, the review highlighted the centres in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto as funding priorities, and investment will continue.

The current model of funding and structure at the National Swim Centre — Montreal will be temporarily suspended March 31. Prior to potential re-investment it will undergo a more detailed review of its operations, including a restructure of the overall strategy for the region. The National Swim Centre — Calgary will no longer be funded by Swimming Canada beyond March 31.

“The objective of these high performance entities was to provide an environment aimed at developing identified swimmers to their potential. This process evaluated the impact each of the five centres could have on the success of Canadian swimmers as we build towards the 2016 and 2020 Olympics,” said Atkinson. “By refocusing our operations at four centres we will be able to dedicate more resources directly to national teams and programming for athletes.”

Each centre was asked to submit documentation during the process, which reviewed current and past performance of centre athletes, as well as future capacity. Support structures, and connections with other entities such as provincial programs and clubs were also taken into consideration.

“We have encouraged Swimming Canada to ensure they are spending their resources in the most effective way possible to achieve podium success,” said Mark Hahto, Director of Summer Sport for Own the Podium.

The centres will be named Swimming Canada High Performance Centres and operate under a refreshed set of operational standards and accountabilities. The new plan will begin to take effect April 1.

“These centres have been strong performers for Canada at the high-performance level, and had the combination of vision, results and potential future results that earned them high scores in the review process,” Atkinson said. “The bottom line for high performance is to use our resources in the most efficient way possible to work towards success on the international stage. This is a strategic decision we believe puts Canada in a stronger position to produce more world-class performances at major competitions.”

“Swimming Canada’s Vision 2020 strategic plan aims to grow Canada into a world-leading swimming nation. By undertaking such a sweeping evaluation of our high-performance programs we are making a strong step in that direction,” added Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi. “This new direction will allow us to focus more of our resources directly on our top athletes and medal hopefuls for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.”

As part of this decision, Swimming Canada will work with all impacted federally carded athletes in order to ensure that their preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games is not compromised.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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