On Sunday, on the final day of the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Katerine Savard finished eighth in the 100m butterfly final. The Quebecer took advantage of this opportunity to live in the present moment and she is happy with the outcome.
The 29-year-old completed the distance in 56.87 seconds, 2.82 seconds behind the winner, Ontario’s Margaret MacNeil, who set a world record.
“It’s been a long time since I made an individual final at the World Championships, so just being there made me really happy. I wanted to enjoy the moment as much as possible since I don’t know how many finals I have left [d’ici la fin de ma carrière]. I’m proud to still be at this level after so many years,” said Savard.
Mac Neil was accompanied on the podium by American Torri Huske (+0.70 seconds) and Sweden’s Louise Hansson (+0.82 seconds). The Ontarian was also named best female athlete of these Championships.
In qualifying on Friday, Savard took second place in his heat, behind MacNeil. On Saturday, in the semi-finals, she placed eighth to secure her ticket to the final.
In the 4 x 100 m medley relay, the Canadians took third place on the podium (+1.87 seconds). The quartet of Ingrid Wilm, Sydney Pickrem, Margaret MacNeil and Taylor Ruck was only beaten by the Americans and Australians (+0.57 seconds).
Thanks to her participation in the relay in qualifying, Katerine Savard got her hands on her third medal at the world championships in Melbourne after the bronze in the 4 x 100 m freestyle and the silver in the 4 x 200 m freestyle.
With three medals and personal bests, Savard said she was extremely satisfied with her time in Australia, she who had made the trip a little earlier to participate in several preparatory training.
“It was really good at the World Championships! There are some things to improve, obviously, but I’m happy. I spent a month training here to learn new things that I can transfer to long course competitions,” she concluded.