Mary-Sophie Harvey had dreamed about being on the podium for an individual race at a major international competition.
She was so close at the 2024 Paris Olympics – heartbreakingly close – finishing fourth four times.
Instead of letting that sink her, the 25-year-old Canadian star got back to work and had a spectacular Short Course World Championships in Budapest, earning multiple individual medals, five overall including relays, led by a silver medal in the 200 free on the world’s stage.
“It is kind of surreal,” Mary-Sophie Harvey said in the on-deck interview after getting a bronze in the 400 free, fighting through her emotions. “That was always something I wanted to strive for. It is really cool to get that at 25 and it just shows you can dream even later in your career.”
World Aquatics named Harvey its Female Breakout Athlete of the Year, and she followed up with silver in the 200 free, breaking the Americas record in the process in 1:51.49.
“It’s something I’ve dreamed for as long as I can remember, and to have that at 25, I think it just shows that you can have your breakout meet at any age. I’m hoping it inspires athletes, even if you’re not maybe the best in the world at 15 or 16, you can still do it later in life,” she said.
She posted a photo of herself with her silver medal and simply said, “Keep dreaming kids.”
Her 200 free finished only behind Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey as Harvey executed her race plan.
“I knew I could do a good race if I just stick to my plan and keep up with the girls. The first 100 was basically the most important because I tend to chill a little too much at the beginning,” Mary-Sophie Harvey said. “I was just really happy behind the block before the start of the race, because I was just like, ‘You know what, this is my last race of the year and I just want to do it and leave this pool without any regrets.'”
