Swimmer Katerine Savard and her teammates in the 4x100m freestyle relay won gold at the World Short Course Championships, as did the Americans. The two teams recorded an identical time of 3 min 28.52 s in the final to share the first step of the podium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.
Savard teamed up with Kayla Sanchez, Margaret Macneil and Rebecca Smith.
The Swedes led the charge in the first two stints, closely followed by the Canadians, Dutch and Americans. Third runner in the maple leaf, Rebecca Smith put Canada ahead before giving way to Savard at the end of the race.
“I was shaking on the starting block. I knew I was the slowest on the team, but I had a job to do at the end and I wanted to keep our first position, ”Katerine Savard told Swimming Canada in a statement. “I didn’t breathe for the last few strokes because I just wanted to hit the wall. ”
The American Abbey Weitzeil managed to go up the slope to conclude at the same time as the Quebecer. The two teams were thus able to raise their arms on the edge of the swimming pool to celebrate this joint victory. The representatives of Sweden won the bronze medal.
Katerine Savard will be back on Friday for the 200m butterfly. She will also swim the 100m butterfly early next week.