Swimming Canada announced today that they would be establishing a training base in the Wakayama Prefecture in Japan.
Japan will be hosting three major international competitions in the next quadrennial which Swimming Canada will be targeting: the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the 2020 Olympic Games, and the the 2020 Paralympic Games.
All three of these competitions will be taking place in Tokyo which is roughly a seven hour drive or a one hour flight from Wakayama.
“Swimming Canada is thrilled to establish this relationship with the Prefecture of Wakayama leading up to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi. “We have already developed a strong working relationship with the prefecture staff and are excited to foster this relationship moving forward.”
High Performance Director of Swimming Canada John Atkinson stated, “the training facilities in Wakayama are absolutely world class and we could not ask for a better staging camp set up for the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are confident that Wakayama will offer our teams the optimal environment to prepare for success.”
The 2015-2020 Swimming Canada national team planner for senior teams can be found here. It has not yet been updated with information that staging camps will be held in Wakayama.