After the “little shock wave” that shook her club in Montreal, Katerine Savard keeps her eyes on her goal at the Fukuoka World Championships: a 100-meter butterfly final.
Following her election in absentia as a member of CAMO Natation’s new board of directors, Savard is concentrating on the task to be accomplished in Japan, where she will compete in her sixth World Championships in long course, from July 23 to 30.
“The mission remains the same for me, assured Savard during a virtual conference organized by Swimming Canada at Toyota, where the team has been for a few days for a final sharpening.
“The goals have been established for a few months with my country and my coach for several months already. It’s the same and it won’t change: perform well. For my part, I would like to make the final in the 100 butterfly. »
Still, the crisis that rocked his club in Montreal caused “a little shock wave,” admitted Savard. She chose to get involved by submitting her candidacy as a new administrator as part of an extraordinary general meeting held Thursday evening under the supervision of the Quebec Swimming Federation (FNQ).
The 30-year-old swimmer will be part of a completely renewed C. A. made up of 13 people. Tied with her ex-teammate Julien Roy-Lavallée, she received the most votes from the 76 participating members.
“We were very well supported, the federations were behind us, both Swimming Canada and the FNQ. The City was behind us too. Several scenarios were possible and everything was explained to us. Our coach has been very good with us to keep us focused on our goal next week. »
Greg Arkhurst, head coach of CAMO since 2021, was suspended for two weeks a few months ago after a report by the Quebec Complaints Officer, the nature of which is unknown. In the aftermath, apparently unrelated, Arkhurst learned that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season.
A game of arm wrestling followed with the members of a board already weakened by the departure of several administrators. Faced with the threat of a concerted resignation of three other coaches, who support Arkhurst, the remaining administrators gave up their functions en bloc last week, revealed Radio-Canada a few days ago.
In this context, Savard chose to get involved. Her teammate Mary-Sophie Harvey, the other CAMO athlete accompanying her to Fukuoka, has applied. Three other current swimmers were elected as well as a few former ones.
“Discussing with the others, we realized that there were not necessarily senior swimmers on the board,” explained Savard. So we thought it would be interesting to put someone with a different eye. Various people have offered to apply. So I thought about it all and asked different questions. I think that was a good idea. With the experience I have and the different environments in which I have evolved, I hope to bring good and be able to make a difference for the good of all. It’s not fair [compared to] the current situation, but I think we can bring things in the long term. »
Savard expressed his confidence in Arkhurst, who took over from Claude St-Jean after the Tokyo Olympics were pushed back to 2021. He is on staff for the Canadian team in Japan.
“Having not been on the council before, I’m not really aware of what happened. From now on, I will see what is going on and what we are putting in place. […] It is difficult to understand all that has happened. I hope to have more explanations and to be able to form my own opinion. From my side, Greg has always been a good coach for me. I have never seen any problems, neither with the coaches nor with the swimmers on the edge of the pool at CAMO. »
On the sporting level, Savard wants to bridge the gap that separates her from a first individual final since Kazan in 2015, where she finished fifth. She missed it by eight hundredths last summer in Budapest.
The native of Pont-Rouge is inspired by her teammate Maggie Mac Neil, reigning Olympic champion who is making an individual return to the Worlds after prioritizing her mental health in 2022.
“There is the strategy of breathing a little more. We compared it to Maggie’s races. There is a big difference in the number of breaths between her and me. I learned from her and I try to do it my way to make it work for me. »
