Canada's Olympic hopefuls forced to make do without Montreal training facility

A major sports training complex in Montreal's Olympic Park is going to be closed longer than initially forecast after a devastating fire, and that means Olympians and Paralympians will need to train for the Paris games elsewhere.

And the upcoming Paralympic and Olympic national trials, slated for Montreal's Olympic pool for May 13 to 19, will need to be held at a new location.

The Olympic Park revealed Wednesday that the athletic sports complex will remain closed for a period of four to six months due to a fire on March 21.

Swimming Canada aims to maintain the same dates for the national trials and is actively seeking an alternate location within the Montreal area. 

The selected venue must possess a 50-metre pool, sufficient capacity for both participants and spectators, and facilitate the broadcasting of the event.

In the upcoming days, the governing body will convene with key partners to determine the subsequent actions and it expects to share a comprehensive plan by next week.

Meanwhile, the head of the Quebec swimming federation is hastening to find a backup training venue.

Francis Ménard said the timing is difficult for the athletes — it's the final stretch before the Olympics when they should just be focused on performing well rather than worrying about changing locations.

Among those displaced is the national artistic swimming team. Athletes from that team are using the pool at the Cégep du Vieux Montréal.

"It's crunch time right now as we prepare for the Olympics," said Kerri Morgan, Canada Artistic Swimming's chief sports officer. 

She described the situation as a "scrambled mess."

"We're taking water whenever we can get it. We're starting earlier some days. We're starting later some days. We have more time some