When Marianne Limpert won silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, placing second in the 200-metre individual medley in a time of 2:14.35, a pizza joint in her hometown held a promotion in her honour: two pizzas for $14.35.

It was a savvy business move. With Limpert Fever gripping Fredericton, discount pizzas flew out the door.

That was 20 years ago, the last time Canada could rally around a medal winner in women's swimming – until now. With the stunning three-medal performance by the Canadian women over the first three days of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the women's team looks stronger than ever, after a painful two-decade podium drought.

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The medals – a bronze in the 4x100 freestyle relay on Saturday, a silver by rookie Penny Oleksiak in the 100-metre butterfly on Sunday, and a bronze from Kylie Masse in the 100 m backstroke Monday – have revitalized the women's program in one spectacular 72-hour span.

Few people are as relieved to see the medal drought end as Ms. Limpert herself. In the years since Atlanta, she grew sheepish about constantly being referred to as the last Canadian woman to win a swimming medal.

Canada’s Marianne Limpert won silver in the 200 metre individual medley at the 1996 Olympic Games. FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS

When the streak finally ended, Ms. Limpert wrote a congratulatory e-mail to the members of the relay team. Struggling to contain her excitement, she titled it: "Woo-hoo!!! Way to Go Canadian Ladies!!!" and gushed about how happy she was for them.

It was a passing of the torch of sorts. But Canadians might be inclined to ask: What happened? How did a program that appeared to be in decline suddenly spring back to life at these Olympics? Reached in Fredericton, where she has been watching the races on television, Ms. Limpert offered her take on what is happening in the pool.

THE TEAM

THINGS JUST SEEM TO BE GOING RIGHT

To unlock the secret of why the women are succeeding, Ms. Limpert suggests watching the final few metres of Ms. Masse's backstroke in slow motion. The race is one of the closest at these Olympics, with the swimmer from Windsor, Ont., tying a rival from China for the bronze.

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The difference between being on or off the podium for Ms. Masse was a crucial decision made in the last few metres. When backstroke swimmers hit the point in the pool with flags overhead, they know they've got about four strokes left. Ms. Masse took one fewer stroke than the fourth-place finisher – choosing instead to kick and glide directly to the wall. That allowed her to touch a fraction of a second faster.

It was a gamble, but it worked. It was also a sign that this team is not only good, but savvy. "The girls have worked on their starts, they've worked on their turns, and coming into the wall, too," Ms. Limpert said. "Kylie made that decision and just decided not to take the stroke and just kick hard, and glide in. And that made the difference."

Kylie Masse competes at the Rio Olympics. Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

RUMBLINGS BEFORE RIO

A few days before the Olympics, Team Canada officials predicted 19 medals in Rio. Upon hearing that number, Ryan Cochrane, co-captain of the Canadian swimming team joked: "Hopefully that's not all in the pool."

But the swimmers were quietly confident they could bring home multiple medals, particularly the women. Strong performances at meets over the past year, along with fast times in Olympic qualifying, showed they were serious podium threats, even if they were being overlooked.

"If you're not really following swimming, all of a sudden you're thinking, 'Well, where did this come from?'" Ms. Limpert said. "But I think those people who were close to the sport and had seen some of the performances at trials – and also the way the team was swimming at other meets during the summer leading up to this – could see that they were building."

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HOW THE DROUGHT ENDED

Ms. Limpert can pinpoint exactly when the seeds for today's success were sown. It happened at the 2004 Athens Olympics, a low point for Canadian swimming.

"It was the first time we hadn't won a medal at all at an Olympics in swimming," Ms. Limpert said.

The soul-searching that followed Athens led to a revamp of the program. Coaches were replaced, centres of excellence were opened to better identify and train talent and a new attitude was instilled. Swimming Canada looked outside its own borders to bring in coaches such as Ben Titley, a former British Olympic coach. His influence in Rio is apparent: He is Ms. Oleksiak's coach and oversees the relay team.

But reshaping the infrastructure of Swimming Canada isn't enough to guarantee medals. To win at swimming, you need the right athletes in the pool.

Penny Oleksiak of Canada elebrates after she wins silver in the Women’s 100m Butterfly final during Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Getty Images/Ian MacNicol

THE YOUTH MOVEMENT

Two spectacular swimmers have landed in the Canadian team's lap this year in the form of 16-year-old prodigies Ms. Oleksiak and Taylor Ruck. The high school students swam the final two legs of the bronze-winning relay Saturday, and showed no signs of being intimidated by their first Olympics.

A day later, Ms. Oleksiak swam to silver in the 100 m butterfly. Their performances have drawn raves from their older teammates. Relay swimmer Michelle Williams said the two young women are rare finds.

"There's great talent that sort of comes around once every century or so," Ms. Williams said. "And for Canada to have two 16-year-olds on an Olympic medal-winning relay is unheard of but so exciting because they're ours."

Ms. Ruck, who trains in Arizona and Ms. Oleksiak, who swims in Toronto, came to Rio to gain experience for the 2020 Tokyo Games and have instead walked away with medals.

Ms. Limpert identifies with their sneak attack in Rio. When she raced in Atlanta, no one expected her to win a medal. That allowed her to focus on racing, without having the public pressure to make the podium.

"For Penny the pressure wasn't on because if she performed this year, great. And if not, then in four years [in Tokyo] they were going to expect great things of her," Ms. Limpert said.

MOMENTUM

It's an age-old debate in sports: Is momentum real, or imagined?

Canada's swimmers certainly believe in it. After the relay team took Canada's first medal of the Games, swimmer Chantal Van Landeghem said she hoped that bronze lit a fire for the other athletes.

The next night, Ms. Oleksiak talked about the excitement the first medal created. When Ms. Masse won bronze on Monday, she couldn't help but cite momentum as a factor.

"Definitely athletes feed off of each other's energy. I know when one person does well or a group of people do well it's like, everyone gets excited and gets behind them," Ms. Masse said on Tuesday. "So I think that definitely helped."

The impact of these medals should be a stronger women's program going forward, Ms. Limpert said.

"It raises the profile of swimming in the country and it will get a lot more young kids into swimming, which I think can only help because the larger the talent pool we have to draw from, the more Penny Oleksiaks we'll have to choose from."