MASSE WINS BRONZE
Kylie Masse of LaSalle shows off the bronze medal she won in the 100-metre backstroke at the Rio Olympics Monday. The 20-year-old Sandwich grad finished tied for third in 58.76 seconds.
Fans at a local bar exploded in cheers Monday night as LaSalle swimmer Kylie Masse won bronze in the 100-metre backstroke final at the Rio Summer Olympics
“To our team, to the kids it means everything, it’s such an inspiration for them to have somebody that’s so close to them being in the same club and seeing that they come out of the Windsor-Essex area,” said Stacey Kane, a coach with the Windsor-Essex Swim Team — the team Masse joined more than a decade ago.
Fans and friends cheered the 20-year-old swimmer on as she tied for bronze in a time of 58.76 seconds.
Masse grabbed her spot in the 100-metre backstroke final, after a series of successes — recording a third-best overall time of 59.07 seconds in the heats.
Her spot was secured in Monday’s race for the medals, after finishing fifth overall in the semifinals.
Flags and banners were waving at John Max sports bar on Dougall Avenue where fans dressed in red and white anxiously waited for the race to begin around 9:30 p.m.
The gathering was organized by the FINA World Swimming Championships, which contacted local groups and supporters to rally for Masse.
“Kylie, being the hometown hero, we wanted to do something special to rally the town around her, we had this undercover ready to go but we didn’t want to jinx it, we wanted to see how she would do in the semi finals and made sure she made it and last night as soon as she made it we just started sending the invites,” said Kelly Stefanyshyn, operations director at the championships.
“It gives me goosebumps,” said Stefanyshyn.
A sophomore at the University of Toronto, Masse is also a Sandwich high school graduate.
Since joining the Windsor Essex Swim Team more than a decade ago, she has earned national and international recognition — especially after winning Canada’s first swimming gold medal at the World University Games in 2015.
She made the Canadian team in Rio after breaking a national record in the women’s 100-metre backstroke at the Canadian Olympic and Para-swimming Trials.
“She was always a hard worker,” said Lou Pocock, who coached her for one year when she first joined the WEST. “It’s always nice to see the kids have fun with it and then they get better and better, I’m so very happy for her, it’s amazing really.”
After winning bronze, the hearts of her fans were shaken with excitement. Loud deafening cheers erupted as she appeared on television screens.
“It means so much, it’s seeing her and knowing that they (all the team members) have a chance one day,” Kane said.
To our team, to the kids it means everything, it’s such an inspiration for them to have somebody that’s so close to them.