Mayor promises to save aquatics event
Organizers failed to fill the money pool

Bill Beacon

MONTREAL�Montreal has lost the world aquatic championships, but Mayor Gerald Tremblay vowed yesterday to get the prestigious event back.

"We cannot allow our international reputation to be tarnished," a seething Tremblay said after FINA, the world governing body for water sports, announced its decision to withdraw the 2005 championships from Montreal due to financial problems.

The 22-member FINA bureau voted unanimously at a special meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, to cancel the July 17-31 event and put it up for bidding by other cities. So far, Greece and Germany have expressed interest.

"I will not accept the decision," said Tremblay. "I will do everything in my power to make sure the event can take place as scheduled."

The mayor said he would set up a committee to find companies willing to fill a roughly $10-million shortfall in sponsorship revenue, adding that Montreal would "guarantee" that the event's $36.5-million budget would be met.

He and the co-presidents of the organizing committee, Richard Pound and Roger Legare, were also lobbying FINA to reverse its decision.

Montreal's name as a sports town was already damaged from losing two lesser events � the Gay Games and the World Games � earlier this year and from the departure of the Montreal Expos baseball team to Washington, D.C.

The FINA championships, which include swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and endurance swimming, was billed as the city's biggest sports event since the 1976 Olympics.

While the federal, provincial and municipal governments chipped in their share for both the budget and infrastructure, which included three new outdoor pools, the organizing committee failed to spark interest from private sponsors.

Also, neither level of government was willing to guarantee the budget, fearing it would be stuck with a huge bill.

Linda Cuthbert, president of the Aquatic Federation of Canada, said the lack of sponsor interest was "baffling."

"It's a sad day for Montreal and Canada," she said. "It's setting Canadian sport back several years.

"There are questions in the international community about Canada's commitment to sport. For any federation looking at hosting an event in the next 10 years, you can be sure they won't have confidence in our ability to host it."

The cancellation was a body blow to Canadian athletes anxious to compete at home. None more so than world champion diver Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., who was honourary spokesman for the organizing committee.

"It's a huge disappointment," said Despatie. "It's clear that someone didn't do the job and it is the athletes and coaches who are the losers."

Swimmer Yannick Lupien said athletes felt "betrayed" by the organizing committee, who seemed to wait to the last minute to pursue sponsorships aggressively.

Montreal is the first city to lose a major championship since London lost the 2005 world athletics championships after plans for a national stadium were dropped.

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