RIO DE JANEIRO — Chantal Van Landeghem always has a smile on her face, exudes positivity and is generally a delight to be around.
On the first day of the Olympics, those traits were on display for the world to see.
The 22-year-old Winnipegger was one of the media darlings in Rio on Sunday after helping the Canadian women’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay team to a bronze medal late Saturday night.
She was living a dream, enjoying a moment that was everything she ever imagined it would be, trying to find words to describe just how she felt when it all came together.
“It’s honestly very hard to put into words, but it was just an ‘Oh my God moment,’” Van Landeghem says. “It was shocking, and yet not shocking, and unbelievably perfect. It was very cool.”
Had she ever had a better feeling in her life?
“Not that I can remember,” she says.
“It was very hard to get to sleep, but it was so exhausting and mentally and physically draining that eventually I did fall asleep for a little bit.”
With her parents Wayne and Dinah in the stands, Van Landeghem swam the second leg of the relay on Saturday night, putting up the second-fastest time of her life in a relay swim.
“I did see them in the stands, which is really a moment I’m going to remember forever,” Van Landeghem says. “It was so special to me.”
Her teammates — Penny Oleksiak, Sandrine Manville and Taylor Ruck — also were at their best and that allowed the Canadians to slide into third place behind Australia and the United States.
It was Canada’s first medal of the 2016 Games and a big moment for Canadian swimming in general.
“I think we surprised a lot of people, but we didn’t surprise ourselves,” Van Landeghem says. “We knew that if we went in and all four of us had amazing swims then we could be medal threats and that’s what we did.”
“Honestly, on that podium, in that moment, all I could think about was our team and how hard we worked to get there and it was really cool to share it with them. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish last night and it was amazing in every single sense.”
Van Landeghem still has two more events in these Olympics, with the 100-metre freestyle coming up next on Wednesday. Her task now is to keep her eyes forward, while still enjoying her accomplishment.
“Totally just keep your focus and try to keep the ball rolling, use this as momentum to keep swimming fast,” she says.
There’s no chance she’ll sit back and be satisfied with this medal, no matter how much it means to her.
“For me personally, it kind of just makes me want more,” she says. “I just want to go and swim even faster and get another one.”