Kylie Jacqueline Masse (born January 18, 1996) is a Canadian competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She is a four-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medallist, having tied for the bronze medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in the 100 m backstroke and then won silver medals at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and a bronze medal in the 4x100 m medley. Masse is a two-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the 100 m backstroke, breaking the eight year old

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the process, which she held until July 2018. While winning her title in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

at the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships ( hu, 2017-es úszó-világbajnokság) were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

she became the first Canadian woman to become a world champion in a swimming event. She subsequently became the first Canadian woman to defend her world title at the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

. She is currently the captain for the

Toronto Titans Toronto Titans is one of the two new teams for the professional International Swimming League 2020 season, announced in December 2019, taking the total number of teams in the league to ten. Toronto Titans is based in Toronto, Ontario and trains ou ...

of the

International Swimming League The International Swimming League (ISL) is an annual professional swimming league, established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. In 2019, the regular season started in October and the Final Match ...

. Masse won two gold medals at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke, setting a games record in both events, and finished the games with a silver in the 50 m backstroke. She is also the Canadian record holder in the 100 m backstroke. Masse won gold in the 100 m backstroke at the

2015 Summer Universiade ) , Nations participating = 143 , Athletes participating = 12,885 , Events = 272 in 21 sports , Opening ceremony = , Closing ceremony = , Officially opened by = Park Geun-hye , Athlete's Oath = Kim Seong-yeon and Kim Kuk-young , Judge's Oath = K ...

and was the 2015-16

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

swimmer of the year while swimming at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Career

Early career

Masse started swimming at a young age for the Windsor Essex Swim team and was coached by Andrei Semenov. She did not achieve success in the junior ranks, and in 2014 was rated 201st overall in the global rankings. She was then recruited to swim with the

swim team, where her rapidly improving performances earned her the award for CIS swimmer of the year in both 2015 and 2016. In April of 2015, Masse participated in the Canadian swimming trials, hoping to make the team for the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

that were scheduled to be held on home soil in Toronto. She did not qualify for the Pan American Games, to her disappointment, but was instead named to the Canadian team for the

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

. In her first senior international event, Masse qualified to the final in the 100 m backstroke, where she was, at age 19, the youngest swimmer in the field. She won the gold medal, one of two for the Canadian team at the Universiade. Reflecting on the championship title five years later, Masse would remark that it "gave me so much confidence in my swimming" and propelled her to further results.

2016 season

2016 Summer Olympics

Masse qualified for the Canadian team for the

. Masse was Canada's lead competitor in the 100 m backstroke at the games, where set and improved the national record in the 100 m backstroke in both the heats and semi-finals. In the final she swam to a bronze medal tie with

Fu Yuanhui Fu Yuanhui (; born January 7, 1996) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in backstroke. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100-meter backstroke. Early life On January 7, 1996, Fu was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, C ...

while again bettering the national record, setting it at 58.76. On the final day of swimming competition, Masse participated in her second event of the games, performing the backstroke leg for the Canadian women's team in the 4x100 m medley relay. Expectations for the team had been somewhat raised due to the strong performances of members throughout, including both Masse and breakout star

Penny Oleksiak Penelope Oleksiak (born June 13, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Her country's most decorated Olympian, Oleksiak rose to fame during the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she became the first Canadian to win four medals in the same Summer Gam ...

, but they ultimately finished in fifth place.

2016 World Swimming Championships

Following Rio de Janeiro, Masse's next event was her first World Swimming Championships, held in a short course (25 m) pool. The 2016 edition was held in her hometown of

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

, where her Olympic success had raised her to the level of local celebrity. Masse won the silver medal in the 100 m backstroke, finishing behind only reigning Olympic champion

Katinka Hosszú Katinka Hosszú (; born 3 May 1989) is a Hungarian competitive swimmer specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is owner of a Budapest based swim school and swi ...

. She won a second silver medal as part of the Canadian Canadian 4x100 m medley relay team. Commenting on the results, her coach

Byron MacDonald Arthur Byron MacDonald (born July 23, 1950) is an American Canadian swimming coach who helms the Toronto Varsity Blues swim teams at the University of Toronto. He is a former swimmer who competed for Canada in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich ...

predicted "the upside for Kylie is tremendous. You have to remember she's new to this. Anything can happen right now. She has not hit her limit yet."

2017 season

At the 2017 Canadian Swimming Championships, Masse broke the Americas record in the 100 m backstroke in a time of 58.21, which was also the fastest time ever in a textile suit and the third-fastest time in history at that time. Masse was assigned to compete at the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships ( hu, 2017-es úszó-világbajnokság) were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

. There she broke a

that had stood for eight years, en route to winning her first world championship title in 58.10 seconds. She became the first Canadian woman to become a world champion and first Canadian to win a title since

Brent Hayden Brent Matthew Hayden (born October 21, 1983) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Representing Canada for a decade, Hayden is regarded as the fastest swimmer in Canadian history. Hayden won a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle at the 2012 Summ ...

. An elated Masse said after the race that "I don't think it's really sunk in yet. I touched the wall, I looked back and I had to make sure I was looking at the right name and the right time. I was just super excited in the moment. After the Olympics I just gained a lot more confidence in myself and experience. I gained a lot from just doing that routine for a week, doing prelims, semis and finals. All that experience really helps and makes you feel more confident." Masse followed up her world record by participating in the final of the mixed 4x100 m medley with the lead-off backstroke leg of the race.

Yuri Kisil Yuri Kisil (born September 18, 1995) is a Canadian competitive swimmer who is a freestyle sprinter. A three-time medalist at the World Aquatics Championships, Kisil has represented Canada at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Career 2013–2016 ...

anchored the team in the final freestyle leg, pulling the team into a tie for bronze with the Chinese team. She competed in the women's 200 m backstroke setting the Canadian record at 2:05.97 in the semis and qualifying for the final second overall, but was unable to duplicate her time and placed fifth at 2:07.04 ahead of teammate Hilary Caldwell. Following the championships the town of

LaSalle, Ontario LaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor and part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and is located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlemen ...

dedicated an August 18 day to fest her accomplishments and celebrated with her and a town barbecue.

2018 season

Masse was named as part of Canada's team at the

. She began her part of the competition in her preferred event, the 100 m. Masse set two Commonwealth Games records en route to the final. In the final she again set the record, just out-touching

Emily Seebohm Emily Jane Seebohm, OAM (born 5 June 1992) is an Australian swimmer and television personality. She has appeared at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2021; and won three Olympic gold medals, five world championship gold medals and seven Commo ...

for the gold medal. After seeing she had won the event she told reports how she felt about the win and coming in to the event as the favourite, saying, "Relief, happiness. Just coming into another big meet with kind of a target on your back is something relatively new to me. So I’m still trying to kind of focus on my stroke and what I can control and not worry too much about outside pressures or anything like that." Masse followed up her victory in the 100 m back with a gold in the 200 m backstroke the next day. She again set a Commonwealth Games record, finishing ahead of 17-year-old teammate

Taylor Ruck Taylor Madison Ruck (born May 28, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. She won two Olympic bronze medals as part of Canada's women's 4×100 metre and 4×200 metre freestyle relay teams at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ruck wo ...

. Masse ended her games with a silver medal and a Canadian record in the 50 m backstroke and another silver medal in 4 × 100 m medley relay event. Following the Commonwealth Games, Masse made her

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.2018 edition in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. The 100 m backstroke was anticipated to be one of the highlights, featuring as did reigning World champion Masse as well as top rivals Seebohm and

Kathleen Baker Kathleen Baker (born February 28, 1997) is an American competition swimming (sport), swimmer who specializes in freestyle swimming, freestyle and backstroke swimming, backstroke events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the Sw ...

, the latter having broken Masse's world record earlier in the season. Masse won the gold medal, finishing 0.11 ahead of Seebohm, though she came up short of reclaiming her world record. She also competed in the 200 m backstroke event, finishing in fourth place, 0.54 seconds behind bronze medallist Regan Smith. She was also part of the Canadian team in the 4x100 m medley relay, which finished in fourth place. Masse was named the female swimmer of the championships.

2019–20 seasons

At the

Masse entered the competition to defend her title in the 100 m backstroke. In the final she found in herself in fourth place through the first 50 m but passed

Minna Atherton Minna Atherton (born 17 May 2000) is an Australian competitive swimmer who won the gold medals in the 100- and 200-metre backstroke events at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Singapore. She tied the junior world record (hel ...

on her way to her second consecutive world title in the 100. With the victory Masse became the first Canadian swimmer to defend a world title and only the second to win two golds at the event. She then competed in the 200 m backstroke where she finished in third place. Masse concluded her world championships with a third medal when she won bronze as part of the 4x100 medley relay and her fifth medal over her career at the event. Her three individual medals at worlds in total equalled the number achieved by fellow Canadian

Sydney Pickrem Sydney Pickrem (born May 21, 1997) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Pickrem won a bronze medal in the 400m individual medley at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. At the 2015 Pan American Games, she won a silver in the 400m and bronze in t ...

and her five world medals in total now tied

. On March 18, 2020, Masse was signed to the Toronto Titans of the International Swimming League as the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. This was to be Masse's first time in the ISL. However, the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

upended the planned swimming calendar, including delaying the

by a year. With training facilities closed in Canada starting in March, Masse was unable to train in a competitive environment for several months, resorting to out-of-water training at home and making use of her parents' pool. In June, she opted to leave the

's swimming program to join the Canadian national team, as its facility was reopening. After seven months away from competition, Masse travelled to

to join the ISL. October 25, 2020, in her ISL debut during Match 3, she finished 8th in the match MVP standings with 30.5 points. She won the 100m backstroke with a time of 56.38 seconds. On November 1, 2020, during Match 6 of the ISL, Masse won the 50m backstroke and helped her team win the 4x100 medley relay. As a result for the medley win, her team got to pick which skin they wanted to race in. On November 2, Masse won the 100m backstroke, and the skin for the 50m backstroke. On November 5, 2020, during Match 7, Masse won the 50m backstroke again.

2021 season

2020 Summer Olympics

Despite having already been named to the Canadian Olympic team, Masse competed at the national swimming trials, going below the 58-second mark for the first time to win the 100 m backstroke event with a time of 57.70 seconds. Competing first in the 100 m backstroke event, Masse was identified as one of the three medal favourites, alongside Australia's

Kaylee McKeown Kaylee Rochelle McKeown (born 12 July 2001) is an Australian swimmer and triple Olympic gold medalist. She is a world record holder in the long course 100 metre backstroke and the short course 200 metre backstroke.Hanson, Ian (27 November 20 ...

and American Regan Smith. Masse set an Olympic record in her first heat, which was broken minutes later by McKeown, and then in turn by Smith. Masse won her semi-final over McKeown, while Smith won the other with a fourth Olympic record. In the event final, she came second behind McKeown, taking the silver medal in 57.72 seconds. Masse's second event was the 200 m backstroke, which she had not contested at the Rio Olympics. She was again cited as one of the medal favourites, alongside McKeown and American

Rhyan White Rhyan Elizabeth White (born January 25, 2000) is an American swimmer. She won a silver medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics for her contribution in the prelims of the event and placed fourth in both the 100-meter ...

, and placed second behind McKeown in both the heats and the semifinals, tying with White in the latter. In the final, Masse lead McKeown through the first three lengths of the race, ultimately being overtaken in the final stretch, and won her second silver medal of the Games. In the process she set a new national record. For her final event, Masse was again the backstroke leg of Canada's team in the 4×100 m medley relay, facing off again against McKeown and Smith. Masse won her segment of the competition with a 57.90 time, while the Canadians took the bronze medal, Masse's fourth.

2021 World Swimming Championships

Masse ended the year at the 2021 FINA World Swimming Championships in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. Masse's first event was the 100 m backstroke, where she won silver, finishing just behind Sweden's

Louise Hansson Louise Maria Hansson (born 24 November 1996) is a Swedish competitive swimmer, a member of Helsingborgs SS. Career International Swimming League In spring 2020 Hansson signed for the Toronto Titans, the first Canadian based team in the ...

while setting a Canadian record in the process. She then competed in the 200 m where she won silver behind

, though in this distance Masse told media she was disappointed with her time though content with the medal. Masse then competed in the 50 m where she won a third medal behind teammate

Maggie Mac Neil Hannah Margaret McNair "Maggie" Mac NeilHer surname is sometimes incorrectly rendered as MacNeil in news reporting and television graphics. (born 26 February 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. A 100 metre butterfly event specialist, she ...

who set a

. She added a silver medal in the women's 4×100 m medley relay to win her fourth silver medal of the competition and tenth total medal won at a World Championships to make her the most decorated swimmer at the World Championships.

2022 season

After competing at the Canadian swimming trials, Masse was named to the Canadian team for the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

, held again in Budapest. Beginning the competition in the 100 m backstroke, she finished first in both her heat and her semi-final. She won the silver medal, finishing 0.18 behind Regan Smith, standing on her third consecutive World podium but missing another title defence. Masse then placed first in the heats and semi-finals of the 50 m backstroke, qualifying to that event final for the first time. She won the gold medal, her third at the World Championships, finishing 0.08 seconds ahead of American silver medallist Katharine Berkoff. Masse said that the win was a tribute to her "50 progress over the last couple of years." She missed the podium in the 200 m backstroke, finishing fifth, but won a bronze medal on the final day as part of the Canadian team in the 4×100 m medley relay. A month later, Masse was part of her second

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

. On her first day of competing, she finished first in both the heats and semi-finals of the 100 m backstroke. Masse won the silver medal, 0.13 seconds behind Australian

. The 200 m backstroke was viewed as another contest between Masse and McKeown, which Masse again taking the silver medal. She said afterward that "I always know Kaylee is going to put down a great race and I tried to stick to my race plan and do the best I could." Qualifying to the final of the 50 m backstroke, she set a Games record of 27.47 in the semi-final. On the same day, she swam the backstroke leg for Canada in the mixed medley relay, winning another silver medal. Beginning the final day of competition, Masse won gold in the 50 m backstroke final, lowering her previous day's Games record again to 27.31, exactly equal to her winning time in Budapest earlier in the season. She then swam the backstroke leg of the 4×100 m medley relay, winning a final silver medal, her fifth medal of the Birmingham Games.

Honours and awards

*2016

Lieutenant Governor Athletic Awards The Lois and Doug Mitchell U Sports Athletes of the Year Awards, formerly known as the Lieutenant Governor Athletic Awards, Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) Awards, and Howard, Mackie Awards, are given annually to top male and female athletes in Canadi ...

Toronto Varsity Blues The Toronto Varsity Blues is the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 43 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and U Sports. The Varsity Blues traces its founding to ...

Female Athlete of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 *

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

Female Athlete of the Month: February 2018

Personal bests

Long course (50-metre pool)

Short course (25-metre pool)

International Swimming League (25-metre pool)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masse, Kylie 1996 births Living people Canadian female backstroke swimmers Franco-Ontarian people Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic silver medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers of Canada Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Ontario Universiade medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Universiade gold medalists for Canada Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Canadian women Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games