On the heels of hosting the OFSAA championships, the Festival of Excellence and the Canadian track and field championships, the University of Toronto is further asserting its commitment to high performance sport, announcing today the creation of a High Performance Swimming Centre and a National Development Centre for track and field. Two world-class coaches will head up these centres.
The track and field development centre is a joint initiative between Athletics Canada, Canadian Sport Centre Ontario, the University of Toronto and Athletics Ontario and will specialize in sprints and other speed-related events. Together with a second centre in Montreal, the program will work to produce podium and top eight results at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The centre will be led by head coach and Olympian Molly Killingbeck.
U of T is also raising the bar for its swimming program. In partnership with Swimming Canada, Swim Ontario and the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario the High Performance Centre will create a resident training program for the province’s athletes. Australia’s John Rodgers, a world renowned coach, will lead the program. He has produced eight Olympic medals, 17 Commonwealth Games medals and one World Championships medal and was part of the coaching staff at the Australian Institute of Sports from 1982 to 1986.
“By establishing these centres here at U of T, we are able to reinforce our commitment to sport development from playground to podium,” says Liz Hoffman, U of T’s director of athletics. “We are so excited to welcome all of this incredible talent as we continue to assert ourselves as a major player in the field of high performance sport.”