Staying in Canada right choice for Masse
Swimming champ has no regrets about spurning U.S. schools
If Canada’s young female swimmers really want to follow in the footsteps of Kylie Masse — and in terms of sporting role models, she’s a fine choice indeed — then they really don’t have far to go.
Because Masse, the reigning world champion in the 100-metre backstroke who until last July held the world record, stayed home.
A handful of years ago, with Masse on the cusp of greatness, she considered college scholarship opportunities on recruitment trips to Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State and Louisville.
She’s a 23-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., which is but a short swim across the Detroit River from the United States (though not recommended or even legal). Going stateside and back home in the course of a day was entirely commonplace for her.
But Masse was a special talent even then, and there was serious interest from the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto.
“My parents were like ‘Make sure you keep all your options open. Look at Canada.’ So I did,” Masse said Friday. “I ultimately decided I was going to be more comfortable in Canada. I love Toronto, I love the team, and I love the coaches and the resources and everyone here. I stuck with my decision and here I am.
“A lot of people go to the U.S. It’s something, I guess, that’s unique about my story.”
She’s happy to share that story with kids who admire her.
“When I went to my first Olympic trials in 2012, I was in awe of Julia Wilkinson and Hilary Caldwell and Brittany MacLean and Ryan Cochrane and Blake Worsley, and all the swimmers who had made the Olympic team. They were in my sport, so I was drawn to them more. It’s really neat now to be friends with some of them, be really good friends with a couple of them actually, and to have them as teammates in 2016. To come full circle. I know how much it meant to meet them and take a picture with them when I was younger.”
When the opportunity presents itself, she relishes the chance to be a role model.
It helps that she has an inspirational success story to tell that includes a bronze medal from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, gold and bronze from the 2017 world championships, and a pair each of gold and silver from the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Masse’s story includes her dominant run in the Ontario Athletic Union swimming championships, where she went undefeated through 19 races.
She wrapped up that portion of her career last month, but she’ll still be on campus for a while yet. Having reduced course loads to accommodate training for those Olympics and worlds, she needs another year to complete her degree in kinesiology.