Canadian open water swimming championships cancelled

OTTAWA — Swimming Canada has cancelled the Canadian open water championships because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The event was scheduled to be held April 25-26 in the Cayman Islands.

Swimming Canada said the event was cancelled because of Canada’s travel advisory and the Cayman Islands government’s restriction on gatherings of more than 50 people.

The event was supposed to serve as a selection trials for those seeking to advance to the FINA Olympic marathon swim qualifier May 30-31 in Fukuoka, Japan. Swimming Canada is evaluating an alternate qualification path should the qualifier be held and travel to Japan deemed safe.

Meanwhile, Swimming Canada says it is evaluating contingency plans for Olympic and Paralympic trials in late June in compliance with rules from the sport’s international governing body, FINA. The event originally was scheduled for March 30-April 5 in Toronto.

“This will all be dependent on the developing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic,” high performance director and national coach John Atkinson said in a statement.

“As the International Olympic Committee has said it is committed to holding the Games as scheduled, and our latest information from FINA is that the qualifiers will be held as scheduled, we continue to plan for Olympic qualification both in the pool and in marathon swimming.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 17, 2020

The Canadian Press