Katerine Savard

Biography

After swimming in her first international final at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships, Katerine Savard emerged as one of Canada’s top female swimmers. At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Savard swam the opening leg of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, helping Canada capture its first-ever Olympic medal in the event. She was also a semifinalist in the 200m freestyle, in which she had qualified for the Olympic team after missing out in her specialty event, the 100m butterfly. She did not miss again at the Olympic Trials for Tokyo 2020, finishing second in the 100m butterfly to earn her spot on her third Olympic team. 

Savard made her Olympic debut at London 2012, after which she enjoyed a breakout year in 2013 when she won gold in the 100m butterfly at the Summer Universiade in Games-record time. After moving to Montreal for training, she added to her résumé in 2014, first setting a Canadian record of 57.27 seconds in the 100m butterfly at the Canadian Trials and then setting a Commonwealth Games record of 57.40 seconds to win gold in Glasgow. Savard also swam the butterfly leg of the 4x100m medley relay at the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships, helping Canada to a pair of bronze medals.

A triple medallist at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, she won bronze in the 100m butterfly and was part of the Pan Am record-setting gold medal-winning 4x100m freestyle relay team. She went on to finish fifth in the 100m butterfly at the World Aquatics Championships for the second straight time while placing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.

At the 2017 Universiade, Savard helped Canada win gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay. She returned to the Pan Am Games in 2019, winning silver with the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze with the 4x100m freestyle relay.

Savard won her first medals at the World Aquatics Championships in 2022. She swam in the preliminary heats for the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay that won silver and the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay that won bronze. Later in the summer, she was back on the podium at the Commonwealth Games for the first time in eight years, taking silver with the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze with the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. In 2023, she earned a spot on the national team for a 14^th consecutive year.

A Little More About Katerine

Getting into the Sport: Started swimming competitively at age 10… Her mother was afraid of water so signed her up for lessons to prevent the same fear from developing… Outside Interests: Was cast in the title role of “Nadia, Butterfly”, a movie released in 2020 about an Olympic swimmer facing challenges related to her retirement which was an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival… Studied pre-school and primary education at Université de Montréal, graduated in December 2020 and is now a teacher… Enjoys travelling, movies and shopping… Odds and Ends: Inspired by American swimmer Dara Torres for her determination and winning her 12^th Olympic medal at age 41 after having a child… Favourite motto: Don’t dream your life, live your dreams…