Australian swimmers hope to get an edge on their competition at next year’s London Olympics by training at altitude, all without leaving sea level in Sydney.

The New South Wales Institute of Sport opened a new training facility at Sydney Olympic Park — site of the 2000 Sydney Games pool events — on Thursday which simulates hypoxic, or low oxygen, conditions found in high altitude training camps.

A canopy covers two 25-metre lanes, with a reduced amount of oxygen inside. James Magnussen, the 100-metre freestyle world champion, was among those testing the system on Thursday.

Commonwealth Games 100-metre butterfly gold medalist Geoff Huegill said the new facility meant the Australian team would not need to travel to high-altitude training locations like Mexico, the  United States, Spain and Switzerland.

“The best thing about this technology is having it available and  right at your fingertips, all the time,” Huegill told Australian Associated Press.

“It is a bit of an effort to get over to Mexico or Flagstaff (Arizona) and the highest altitude training facilities we have in Australia is at Thredbo (in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales state).

“So to be able to able to produce a tent that goes twice as high  as Thredbo and get the same sort of result is something that the NSWIS has invested very well into.”   

Magnussen said he would use the system regularly, having never before trained at altitude.

“It’s definitely going to contribute (to training for London),” Magnussen said. “I don’t think this itself will be a gold medal winner, but combine this with my training program I’ve got already,  we’re definitely well on the way.”