CANADIAN SWIMMING HITS CRITICAL MASSE
Bronze third medal in three days for a program on the rise
The bright peach-painted fingernails on Canadian Kylie Masse’s hand never felt so perfect.
Racing her heart out — and on her back with no view of the finish in the race of her life — the LaSalle, Ont., swimmer got there just in time to join this incredible Canadian pool party.
And when she finally looked up, Masse became her country’s third Olympic medallist in the pool — in three nights, no less — finishing in a dead heat for bronze in the women’s 100-metre backstroke.
With the results so far, who knows where it will end for a women’s team brimming with confidence and showing a killer kick in the late stages of almost every race they are in?
Given that it had been 20 years between medals for Canadian women, they’ve already wildly exceeded expectations from everyone outside of their own pool deck.
“From the performances (of the relay bronze on Saturday) and Penny (Oleksiak’s silver on Sunday), it’s really inspiring,” said Masse, a University of Toronto star. “It really gives each athlete hope for their own successes.
“It’s super exciting. I think we are all in shock and super pumped for Canada.”
The incredible momentum this team is on is clearly contagious as swimmer after swimmer qualifies for finals, it seems, and each believe they have an opportunity to reach the podium.
The three medals earned already match Canada’s overall total in the pool from the past two Olympics combined.
And if you are a fan of any sport, you had to appreciate Masse’s late drive for the wall, that peach fingernail that touched, changing her life forever.
“I kind of saw the scoreboard a little bit and I knew it was a tight race,” Masse said of what was going through her head after making the 50-metre turn. “I knew from racing in heats and in semis it was going to be a close race and a lot of tough competitors.
“I knew it was going to come down to the touch and just trying to get my hand on the wall first. With backstroke, we can’t see anything. I just went in blind and was hoping for the best.”
It won’t matter to Masse that it was a dead heat for third with Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui. Katinka Hosszu of Hungary took her second gold of the Games in a time of 58.45 seconds, while Kathleen Baker of the United States touched in 58.75 for silver. Masse’s time of 58.76 seconds set a Canadian record.
Masse said she felt confident heading into the race and not weighed down by pressure. Like the 4x100-metre relay winners and Oleksiak before her, she wanted to make the moment her own.
“I worked so hard, so just enjoy it,” Masse said of her mindset entering a race that was part of a night featuring so many of the stars in the sport, including Americans Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.
“I was just trying to enjoy the moment and control my own race. I can’t control how everything else goes. However much you might want to, you can’t do it.”
With the Olympic meet just three days old and confidence brimming throughout, few would be shocked now if the Canadians — and the women’s team, especially — continue to pile up medals.
“There’s a chance that every single female leaves here doing a final swim,” said Toronto’s Brittany MacLean, who was fifth in the 400-metre freestyle on Sunday and just failed to advance to the 200-metre final on Monday. “We only had three finalists in London.”
And for each one who makes a final the rest of these Games, the confidence gained from the performance of Masse and her fellow medallists could be immeasurable.
“This is the dream of every athlete,” Masse, the reigning CIS athlete of the year, said moments before getting a medal draped around her neck. “It was a dream come true when I qualified and now this ...”
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