(Toronto) Sitting on a chair a few steps from the call room, Katerine Savard chased away the nervousness by having fun with her coach Marc-André Pelletier 20 minutes before the final of the 200 m freestyle, for which she had narrowly qualified on Tuesday in Toronto.
Earlier, during the warm-up, she had exchanged a few words with Penny Oleksiak, who also entered through the back door of this final at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials: ninth, one place ahead of the Quebecer.
“We were a bit in the same state of mind, in the sense that it’s a bit of fear that is transmitted between us,” Savard admitted.
In the call room, Oleksiak gave one final encouragement to the woman with whom she won the first of her seven Olympic medals in 2016: “Don’t think, close your eyes and go for it. »
Savard continues: “That’s it, in the end: we had nothing to lose. She looked at me and said: we can’t be worse than tenth…”
When the finalists were presented, Savard, hooded on her head, came out of the small structure topped by an illuminated Eiffel Tower. She took a left, towards corridor 9, at the very end. Oleksiak, also hooded, headed towards the other end, to block 0.
Both knew that the task was colossal. Twenty-four hours earlier, Savard had placed fifth in the 100m butterfly final, the event that represented her greatest hope. Oleksiak has returned from injuries and challenges in recent years.
Which does not mean that they would not try their luck in this final promised to Summer McIntosh, third at the 2023 Worlds. Herself a reigning Olympic bronze medalist, Oleksiak was right on her heels at mid-race, where she pointed to the second one. The illusion did not last.
On the other side of the pool, Savard also “tried”, but she was not able to come back. McIntosh easily won in 1 min 53.69 s, just shy of her junior world record. Mary-Sophie Harvey finished second in 1 min 55.44 sec to secure her place at the Games in this event following her success the day before in the 100m butterfly. Oleksiak finished ninth in 2 min 18, six hundredths ahead of Savard, 10e.
The native of Pont-Rouge arrived in front of the journalists with a smile that contrasted with her grief on Monday evening. “I’m smiling because I gave everything I had,” she said.
It’s definitely not the result I hoped for, but honestly, I did what I could.
Katerine Savard
This apparent serenity was a facade or a defense mechanism, she admitted. “I can’t regret anything that happened. I have given a lot of myself to swimming, to the country, to Quebec, in recent years. I would have liked to participate a little more, but I gave everything I had. »
PHOTO IAN MACNICOL, PROVIDED BY SWIMMING CANADA
Penny Oleksiak
A bit like Oleksiak in the end, with whom she shares the desire to qualify for the 4 x 100m freestyle relay on Friday.
“It’s Penny Oleksiak, I’m Katerine Savard, we have all these results behind us. No one can take them away from us. This is proof that we are human. We don’t always have highs, right, in life… We have contributed enormously to swimming in the country. We’re going to do the best we can with what we have left. »
Does she still believe in this dream of qualifying for a fourth Olympic Games, which would represent a first for a Canadian swimmer?
“Yes, I believed it,” she replied, cryptically. These are things I have already done. There’s nothing impossible about it. Circumstances mean that I am perhaps not the Katerine Savard who is at her best in life. But that’s who I am and life has (new) things in store for me. I try to trust what is happening. »
She had a thought for her parents, who followed her into the stands of the Pan American Sports Center, where she won three medals at the 2015 Games. A tear fell at the very end of the interview, when she spoke about Pelletier , her coach from the first hour who took her in Quebec when she was in a poor psychological state in February.
“When I dove in, in my head, I told myself that I was doing it for Marc,” she said, her voice trembling. How many times has he saved me in the last few years? I would have liked to show him that our work together bore fruit. In any case, the results on the clock may not show it, but the person I have become in the last few months is thanks to him. »