Masse endears with silver

WINDSOR, ONT.— Kylie Masse knows exactly what a hometown crowd cheering on a swimmer in the final leg of a race sounds like.

Because she heard it numerous times at Toronto’s Pan Am Games in 2015, though she was watching from the stands.

It seems unbelievable now, but the 20-year-old who won bronze at the Rio Olympics and silver at the world championships here Wednesday night wasn’t good enough to make the national team a year ago in her 100-metre backstroke event.

But Masse is busy writing yet another chapter in the ongoing story of young Canadian swimmers successfully taking on the best in the world. This time, however, the cheering was all for her, having grown up next door in LaSalle, Ont. The WFCU Centre erupted in cheers as soon as the announcer started his spiel “. . . in lane four” and they only got louder as she walked onto the pool deck to hear “. . . representing Canada, Kylie Masse.”

“Being at the back, and hearing everyone (get announced) and then it kind of erupted a bit, it’s nice,” said Masse, who couldn’t catch Katinka Hosszu, who won gold.

Minutes later, Canada picked up an unexpected bronze in the 4x50-metre mixed freestyle relay, where men and women swim together.

That was a particularly sweet moment for Michelle Williams and Sandrine Mainville, who were among the relay swimmers let down the night before by their own sport body. They finished second in the 4x100metre freestyle but were disqualified because officials had submitted their names in the wrong order on the lineup card.

“It’s still disappointing to think back to it, but getting on the podium, there’s nothing better than that,” Williams said. “It motivates us for the rest of the week.”