Katerine Savard is not ready to hang up her beanie. The swimmer has been through “her favorite year for a really long time” over the past few months.
Last August, on her return from the Tokyo Olympics, the native of Quebec said she wanted to go one step at a time for the rest of her career, not to look far ahead. “It seems that I want to go there more, telling myself: ‘if I have fun doing it, we’ll see, if I’m no longer able to do it, we’ll see'”, she had mentioned. in interview with Press.
Four months later, the athlete is still having a lot of fun in the water pools. This is what she said at a press conference on Tuesday morning for the World Short Course Championships, which begin this Thursday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
For the first time this year, she took part in the International Swimming League (ISL), created in 2019. She was recruited by the Cali Condors team, based in San Francisco.
Savard took part in competitions in Italy and the Netherlands with the team, where she did well on several occasions in the 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle, as well as the relay in particular. His rankings allowed him to collect points for his team, which included the American Caeleb Dressel.
“It was really incredible,” said the Quebecer. I think I learned a lot about myself there. Even though I’ve been through a lot already, I think I still grew from this experience. I am really proud of my performance. I had my best times in 10 years so I think there’s still something about me. ”
“I’m really happy to have been able to experience this, to train with the best in the world. I gained confidence seeing that I could train with them, do the same times as them in training. I hope it will be of use to me in the coming months. ”
The Olympic medalist at the Rio Games in 2016 said she has “matured” and “learned to swim differently” in recent months.
This week at the World Short Course Championships, she will be in the 100m and 200m butterfly. The 28-year-old also believes that the Canadian team has a good chance of reaching the podium in the relay.
In the coming months, she will focus on the next World Championships, which will take place in May, as well as the Commonwealth Games, which will be held this summer.
“I don’t plan for the future and I don’t really want to make plans either because after that I have the impression that I put pressure on myself and that I have to meet the expectations of others. I’d rather not even think about in two and a half years and more going there with what I love right now. ”