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Canada News.Net
2 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
(SP)CHINA-CHENGDU-THE WORLD GAMES 2025-SOFTBALL-MEN-PRELIMINARY ROUND-SGP VS CAN (CN)
(250808) -- CHENGDU, Aug. 8, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Raynard Heng of Singapore throws during the men's preliminary round Group B match between Canada and Singapore of Softball event at the World Games 2025 in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Aug. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Feng Kaihua)
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Ontario's pool pinch has London aquatics clubs competing for space
Social Sharing When 15-year-old Luke Ybarra started playing water polo in London a year ago, he already had big goals to join the provincial team. Having taken swimming lessons since he was a child and participating in a local swim team since he moved to London in 2019, Ybarra said he loves spending time in the water. The problem? He doesn't always have access to pool time. "Because of how many clubs we have in London and the small number of pools, it makes us have to go to smaller-size pools like at the YMCA, which for water polo specifically, is really hard to do because it's either too shallow or too small," Ybarra said, adding that London only has two deep 50 m pools. "For water polo, you have to be treading water, jumping and doing all sorts of things in water," he explained. "If you're a six foot tall guy, you can hit your foot at the bottom or whack your hand when you're throwing the ball. It can really hurt or possibly break something." Access to aquatics facilities is a challenge that athletes, recreational clubs and new swimmers across the province are facing. A January report from the Aquatic Sport Council of Ontario found there is an "urgent need" for more and larger aquatics centres in the province as the population grows. Most indoor 50 m pools in Ontario were constructed between 1970 and 2010, and only four were built after 2000, the report said. Large 50 m pools not only support competitive sports like water polo, diving and artistic swimming, but also recreational family swims, aquafit classes and drowning prevention workshops, it said. Canada's pool shortage leading to training issues, swim lesson wait lists 6 days ago As Canada's Summer McIntosh racks up world records, a shortage of pool facilities is raising concern that the country's next generation of athletes won't have a place to swim. "Swimming is a life skill. No matter where you are in Canada, you'll find water so it's really important to be able to stay afloat and be safe," Middlesex Swimming head coach Mackenzie Salmon said. "Without appropriate access to pools, the strain goes elsewhere, which in my opinion is arguably much worse when you have fire, police and other individuals responding to deaths that occur in open water," he said. Local clubs competing for pool time London's two 50 m pools are located at Western University and the Canada Games Aquatic Centre in White Hills. Since the university pool tends to prioritize student use, clubs say they are vying for time at the latter aquatic facility. "It's a challenging process because the clubs and groups that have been accessing space for years have the most opportunity to continue to have that space," Forest City Water Polo head coach Allyson Watson said, adding that her club is only four years old. "I don't actually think it's fair to take space away from them to give to other people, so I'm not arguing for that, I just think that there's not enough time and there's not enough pools in London to support the programs and clubs that want to use them," she said. One of London's longstanding aquatics organizations is the Forest City Dive Club, whose athletes can only practice at the Canada Games Aquatic Centre because of its depth and diving boards. "We always have in the back of our heads this acknowledgement that if we give up any pool time, we're not going to get it back," club board member Ian Kerr said. "Everyone holds on to every minute that they've got." While neither club currently has a waitlist of participants, Kerr and Watson both said it is challenging to get new or recreational athletes enough time in the water, meaning that it may take them longer to reach a competitive level and the organizations more time to build membership. "We have grown a lot, but we don't have the capacity to continue to grow because we just don't have enough pool time available," Watson said. Need for bigger, multipurpose facilities Not only are there not enough pools in London currently, but Salmon predicts more will close in the near future due to maintenance costs. "All pools, just like anything else, will deteriorate and need to be fixed, unfortunately," he said, adding that he wants cities to think about building or upgrading pool infrastructure often and early. "[Pools] don't get built in a day – just like Rome. It's not a simple process like it used to be, with all the different liabilities, time and materials," he said. Both Kerr and Watson said they think London's next pool should be built with community and club needs in mind, including length, depth and access to other features such as dry-land training space. "If we had other pools that could accommodate some of the other sports, then we'd have less overlap at the Canada Games Aquatics Centre," Kerr said. "I think it would be great if the city did some good engagement around what a new facility could look like."
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Wildfires are burning. What does the smoke mean for athletes at the Canada Games?
As parts of the Avalon Peninsula face wildfires and poor air quality conditions as a result, the CEO of the 2025 Canada Games host society says it's an issue organizers are keeping an eye on. On Wednesday, Karen Sherriffs said organizers have been working closely with the province's emergency operations centre and that conditions haven't hampered competition as of yet. "At this point, they have assured us that there should be no impact to the 2025 Canada Games," Sherriffs told reporters. "[It's] no different than any weather event that we would have for the Canada Games. We would work really closely with the national sport organizations, who would make a final call on whether a game should be delayed, cancelled or postponed." A fire burning in the area of Holyrood is of particular interest, as soccer matches are scheduled to take place in nearby Conception Bay South. Parts of C.B.S. have been evacuated as a result of the fire. Sherriffs said air quality has been built into contingency planning for the games, noting that most competition venues have some kind of backup plan in place. Any backup plan would have to meet national sporting standards, she added. For example, the soccer field in C.B.S. is one of four in use for competition. "That's part of our planning that we've been doing for months and years now," she said. Sherriffs said organizers will continue to make decisions with the most up to date information during the games, also accounting for things like weather and high temperatures — which could reach upwards of 30 C in some areas during the first week of competition. She reiterated that any decisions made are made with athletes' health and safety top of mind. Soccer association says events should be moved indoors Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Premier John Hogan said government officials are also monitoring air quality ahead of the games. "Air quality is certainly, potentially, going to be an issue," he said. "Health and safety of the athletes is a priority." Smoky conditions have impacted soccer matches and practices throughout the week, including in communities further from the fires like in Mount Pearl and Paradise. Air quality concerns won't hamper Canada Games yet, CEO says 34 minutes ago There's been a haze hanging over the Avalon Peninsula as a result of ongoing wildfire. And with the Canada Games just a couple of days away, organizers and athletes have concerns about air quality for those competing outdoors. The CBC's Alex Kennedy has more on what plans are in place, and how some in the sports community want other options considered. "It's something we haven't had to deal with in the past from the soccer association … and something that we haven't even had to deal with over our lifespan," said Phil Quann, all-star director for the Mount Pearl Soccer Association. "I think it could be a very big deal, depending on, kind of, where these fires spread." Chris Follett, the association's club league director and a firefighter of 15 years, said he believes the idea of moving some outdoor events indoors should be explored. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald told CBC News Thursday that it's too early to make that kind of decision. "I think we have to take things on a day-by-day basis, really," she said. "To go through all of that work to change things around when you don't need to would not necessarily be helpful." As the games kick off this weekend, Fitzgerald said she believes current conditions are good enough not to impact competition. "For the most part, I think things are good to go here now. Obviously we're going to be keeping an eye on things," she said. "The Canada Games host society are keeping an eye on things very closely just to make sure that, you know, the conditions are best for the athletes to be active."
