Swimming Trials and exploring the city

A week in Montreal

We’d been to Montreal a few times before, but always in a rush. This time, we were there for the Canadian Swimming Trials, helping out as chaperones for swimmers from two swim clubs.

Most of our days revolved around the pool, with prelims in the morning and finals in the evening. Despite our busy schedule, we still managed to find some time to explore Montreal and enjoy the city at a more relaxed pace.

Canadian Swimming Trials

The Trials were the main reason for the trip, and they gave us some unforgettable moments.

Our son made his first Junior Final in the 50m breaststroke at the Trials, which made the week pretty special for us.

We were also lucky enough to be there when Summer McIntosh broke the world record in the 200m butterfly. Watching a world record happen right in front of us was something I’ll definitely remember.

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Old Montreal

Between swimming sessions, we spent some time wandering around Old Montreal.

We visited Notre-Dame Basilica, walked along the old streets, and simply enjoyed having a little more time to look around than on our previous visits.

With the old streets, colourful buildings, and historic architecture, there was plenty to photograph.

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McGill University

We also made time to visit McGill University and joined a guided campus tour. It was a great opportunity to explore the campus, learn more about the university, and get a better feel for what student life there might be like.

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Around the city

The rest of our sightseeing happened whenever we could fit it in between swimming sessions.

We walked around downtown, passed through Chinatown, explored different streets and neighbourhoods, and took in whatever we could without trying to pack too much into the week.

This wasn’t really a sightseeing trip, but somehow we still managed to see quite a bit of Montreal along the way.

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One last night in Montreal

On our last night, we headed to the Old Port for the fireworks over the St. Lawrence River.

A light drizzle was falling, but nobody seemed to mind. With La Grande Roue de Montréal glowing in the background, it turned into one of my favourite evenings of the trip.

I was also lucky enough to capture a few photos that I’m really happy with. It felt like a fitting way to end a week that had mostly revolved around swimming, but somehow still gave us a chance to see Montreal a little differently.

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