MONTREAL (CP) - Canada's synchronized swimming team hopes a new training centre and a Russian choreographer will help them reach the podium at the world aquatic championships this summer.

The team officially opened its new training site at the Olympic pool on Wednesday, although they had quietly moved in on Jan. 10. The team was previously based at the Etobicoke pool in Toronto.

The move allows the team to have its pool, gym, weight room and training personnel all under one roof. They were at different locations in Toronto.

Canada, a world power in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Caroline Waldo and later Sylvie Frechette ruled the pool, finished a distant fifth at the Athens Olympics last summer.

Head coach Isabelle Taillon said an extra push was needed to reach the top three at the world championships, July 17-31 in Montreal.

The team hired choreographer Maria Maximova to help them get there.

"It brings a new dimension to the way we create our programs," said Taillon. "It's going to be a real challenge for us to reach the podium.

"We hope that working with Mrs. Maximova will give us an edge."

Russia is the world's top synchro power, followed by Japan, the United States and Spain.

"It's definitely been a change, but in our situation internationally, that's what was needed," said swimmer Nicole Cargill of Regina. "We have to come together and work to find out what she's looking for.

"When she first came, we hadn't been together long and it takes a while to find a dynamic."

Maximova already spent a five-week stretch with the team in January and is currently on a second five-week term.

Previously, the coaching staff choreographed the swimmers' routines.

The training centre should also help.

They are sharing facilities and training personnel with the water polo and short-track speed skating teams. The short-track team skates at the Maurice Richard Arena near the pool.

Cargill said she misses the people she got to know in Toronto, but so far, she likes the new venue.

"It's easy to get around here, and it's exciting that I can also go to school and have a bit of balance in my life," said Cargill, who takes courses in journalism at Concordia University.

Seven of the 12 team members and all three coaches are from Quebec and Taillon said they will be helped by being close to home.

The team is to be cut to 10 swimmers in May, although only eight will swim at the worlds.

Candidates to swim in the solo event are Cargill, Courtenay Stewart of Unionville, Ont., and Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon of Riviere-du-loup, Que.

Cargill is also on a duet team with Marie-Pierre Gagne of Montreal, while another pair has Jessika Dubuc and Anouk Reniere of Montreal.

Eight swimmers are needed for the team event.

The team's next major competition is the Pacific Rim meet in Seattle, June 5-12.