Katerine Savard and her teammates climbed to the third step of the podium at the end of Tuesday’s controversial women’s 4 x 100 freestyle final, kicking off the World Short Track Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

In addition, the Canadian quartet of Savard, Rebecca Smith, Taylor Ruck and Maggie MacNeil set a Canadian record with a time of 3:28.06 minutes in this toughest race.

Ultimately, the Australians won, covering the distance in 3:25.43 to claim gold, a world record. At the same time, they dethroned the Canadians and the Americans, who took first place at the 2021 World Championships.

Note that the United States finished second this time with 3:26.29.

Earlier in the day, Savard teamed up with Mary-Sophie Harvey, Smith and Ruck for qualifying. The Maple Leaf swimmers secured their place in the Grand Final in second behind the Australians.

Provincial brand

Savard and Harvey also attended individual events on this first day of Short Course Worlds activities.

In action in the 50m butterfly, Savard started his day with a provincial distance record, clocking the time at 25:50 in qualifying. All of this allowed him to reach the semifinals where his time of 25.81 gave him 16th place overall.

For his part, Harvey narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 200m individual medley final. The Trifluvienne was ninth in the preliminary stage, 0.16 from eighth and last place, which gave access to the final race.

The two Quebecois athletes will be back in the pool on Wednesday to compete in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. Savard will also be in action in the women’s 100m freestyle qualifier.