Canadian swimming hits critical Masse

LaSalle native ties for bronze

RIO DE JANEIRO The bright peachpainted fingernails on Kylie Masse’s hand never felt so perfect.

Racing her heart out — and on her back with no view of the finish of 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 Canada’s third Olympic medallist in the pool, 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 in confidence and showing a killer kick in the late stages of almost every race they are in?

Given it had been 20 years between medals for Canadian women, they’ve already exceeded expectations from everyone outside of their own pool deck.

“From the performances (of the relay bronze Saturday) and Penny (Oleksiak’s silver Sunday), it’s really inspiring,” said the compact University of Toronto star. “It really gives each athlete hope for their own successes.

If you are a fan of any sport, you had to appreciate Masse’s late drive for the wall, that peach fingernail that changed 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 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. Masse’s time of 58.76 seconds set a Canadian record.

“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.