Team Canada spots for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are on the line as Swimming Canada’s flagship event returns to Toronto.
The Olympic & Paralympic Swimming Trials, Presented by Bell, will run from Monday through Sunday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre and will be available to stream live across CBC Sports and Radio-Canada’s digital platforms. A total of 857 athletes from 151 clubs across the country will be in action competing to represent Canada at the Olympic Games July 26 to August 11 and Paralympic Games August 28 to September 8 in Paris. Teams for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships August 21-24 in Canberra, Australia, and Open Water Junior World Championships September 6-8 in Alghero, Italy, will also be selected.
Preliminary heats are at 9:30 a.m. ET each day, with finals sessions set for 6 p.m., hosted in house by Rio 2016 Olympic medallist Sandrine Mainville.
All sessions are being streamed live by CBC Sports, with a nightly highlight show on CBC TV and CBC Gem hosted by Devin Heroux. Live streams can be watched on the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. All sessions will be also streamed on TOU.TV and Radio-Canada Sports platforms, with highlight shows broadcast Saturday and Sunday from 3-5 p.m. on ICI Télé. Highlights from the Trials will also be featured on CBC Sports’ weekend programming block on Saturday May 18 starting at 4 pm ET and Sunday, May 19 at 3 pm on CBC TV and CBC Gem. In addition, CBC Sports’ YouTube channel will host daily content featuring Devin Heroux and Brittany MacLean talking about the biggest storylines from the pool. Visit CBC Sports for the full streaming and broadcast schedule.
Former national team members Jasen Pratt and Brittany MacLean will provide commentary for preliminary sessions. For finals, Rob Snoek and Byron MacDonald will have the English call for CBC, while two-time Olympic diving medallist Roseline Filion and 20-time Paralympic swimming medallist Benoit Huot deliver French commentary for Radio-Canada.
To set the tone for Paris, swimmers will walk out for finals from under a replica of the Eiffel Tower, flanked by 3×5-metre video walls. A 47-m video ribbon board will run the length of the pool, and a live DJ will provide music to fuel the atmosphere. Paris symbols, imagery, icons and patterns will be featured throughout the venue.
“We are very excited to make the upcoming 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Swimming Trials, Presented by Bell, the biggest and most exciting event Swimming Canada has ever put on,” said Marketing Director Alan Raphael. “We want to tell a visual story of Canadian competitive swimming at the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, using a specially created graphics package featuring icons of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Moulin Rouge and Notre Dame alongside elements representing the pool, water, lane lines, and more.”
The design theme will carry over into event merchandise and posters available at the Swimming Canada Fan Shop inside the Trials Fan Zone, which will include a large Speedo activation along with Air Canada, Chicken Farmers, Myrtha Pools, Safe Sport and an athlete autograph station.
“We could not have put this event together without the support of our sponsors and partners. That includes the local organizing committee put together by the Fédération de natation du Québec, who have helped us every step of the way since we were forced to move the event from the Montreal Olympic pool,” said Acting CEO Suzanne Paulins. “Our partners, including Sport Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Own the Podium, Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre and Swim Ontario have all made tremendous contributions in helping us bring the Olympic & Paralympic Trials, Presented by Bell, to life in Toronto.”
For full meet information visit: https://www.swimming.ca/en/events-results/events/2024-olympic-paralympic-trials-presented-by-bell/
