Katerine Savard channelled her disappointment into Olympic bronze
Pont-Rouge, Que., native puts individual let down behind to compete in 4x200m relay
Katerine Savard knows what early success feels like in the swimming world.
At just 16 years of age, the Pont-Rouge, Que., native became the national champion in the women's 100-metre butterfly.
Just a year later, Savard set her first Canadian record in that event.
Two years later at the 2013 Universiade, Savard improved on that time once again — setting a Games record of 57.63 seconds that still holds today.
"That was the beginning of my success in swimming. It was my first taste of winning medals and being on the podium," Savard said.
"Being at one Games with every other sport, there's a lot of distractions but when you know what it's like, you can learn from that."
Now a veteran of two Olympic Games, Savard takes pride in leading Penny Oleksiak and the next generation of Canadian female swimmers.
"When I made my first national team, I was 16 years old and so I know how they feel. I can share my experiences," Savard said.
"I like being with younger [swimmers] because they have so much energy."
Youth push
Savard won her first Olympic medal at Rio 2016 — a bronze — alongside Oleksiak, Taylor Ruck, and Brittany MacLean in the women's 4x200-metre freestyle relay.
Both Oleksiak and Ruck, 17, are just scratching the surface — medalling at both Rio and most recently at the world junior championships.
Savard is fully aware of the influx of youth as the future has become the present.
The 24-year-old had to earn her spot on the Olympic 4x200 relay team — especially with the freestyle not being her bread and butter — and knows it will continue to be that way in the years to come.
"I knew they would be fast. So if we wanted to be in the mix or if we wanted to make the team, we have to be faster because we know the younger [swimmers] are coming up," Savard said.
"It's getting harder and harder to make the team individually because the younger [ones] are coming up. I know Penny will bring the fight to another level so I know it's going to be hard for me to reach that."
'Hardest moment of my career'
Savard remembers being inspired watching the women's 4x100 free relay team swim to bronze three days before.
While her 4x200 team wasn't expected to be in the mix for a medal, Savard didn't see any reason why they couldn't do the same.
To come away with and share an Olympic medal alongside her teammates was a special moment for Savard, especially after failing to qualify for the Canadian team in her specialty event — the 100 fly.
She says it took a lot of maturity to put that behind her and focus on the relay.
"Honestly, that was one of the hardest moments of my career because I trained for this. I was the national record holder, the national champion for the past six years," Savard said.
"The moment I came third [at national trials], I knew I lost my national title, my national record, and my place on the Olympic team. I was not expecting to be able to make the team in another event."
With the support of her teammates and family, Savard got back on track and made the 4x200 free relay team. But even after punching her ticket to Rio, Savard wasn't relieved — she says she felt a little bit lost.
"I never trained for the freestyle before that. I guess everything happens for a reason and if I had swam the 100 fly in Rio, I guess I wouldn't have a medal in the 4x200," Savard said.
New challenge
Savard competed in multiple freestyle disciplines at this past week's Universiade in Taipei City looking to get as many reps in as possible.
She advanced to the final in the 100 and 200 free individual races and 4x100 and 4x200 free relays.
Savard swam the opening leg of Canada's 4x100 final keeping Canada within striking distance — just 0.36 seconds off the pace — before teammate Alexia Zevnik staved off a late charge from Russia to earn Canada gold.
She nearly added another medal in the 100 free, missing the podium by 0.09 seconds and later finishing sixth in the 200 free.
While Savard can be encouraged by her recent results, she understands that it's all a work in progress.
"I'm still learning how to swim a 200 freestyle. I'm still making a lot of mistakes but I've been only [practicing for] one year, so I still have a lot of things to learn."