Kylie Masse sets new Canadian record in 100-metre backstroke at Olympic trials

Kylie Masse broke her own Canadian record with a time of 57.70 to win the 100-metre backstroke at the Olympic trials in Toronto on Saturday.

The Lasalle, Ont., native finished ahead of Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., who qualified to be nominated to the Olympic team in that discipline.

"Without having competition for a while and seeing the rest of the world be at normal, or be at more normal than us, it was really frustrating," Masse said.

"Maybe subconsciously it was a little bit like 'hey, we're swimming fast here in Canada, too,' but that wasn't my motive at all.

"I just wanted to be the fastest I could possibly be and I've been trying to break that 58 [second] barrier and that personal-best time from 2017. I was really happy to do that here tonight."

WATCH | Masse breaks own Canadian record in 100-metre backstroke:

Masse's 57.70 sets new Canadian record in 100m backstroke

3 years ago

Duration 2:41

Lasalle, Ontario's Kylie Masse put forth a historic effort during the Olympic trials in Toronto on Saturday.

Fellow Canadians Joshua Liendo and Cole Pratt are set to make their Olympic debuts this summer in Tokyo. The two teens qualified to be nominated to the Olympic team on Saturday.

"There's a lot of guys coming up and I think we're not NextGen anymore. We're here," Liendo said.

"I've seen a lot of guys from other countries who are 18 make the Olympic team and it got me fired up. I want to be there too."

Liendo of Markham, Ont., won the men's 100-metre butterfly in the necessary qualifying time to earn nomination to the Olympic team.

Calgary's Pratt duelled with Markus Thormeyer of Delta, B.C., in the men's 100-metre backstroke to finish second in qualifying time. Both men met the threshold to wear the Maple Leaf in Tokyo.

"What I was trying to do today and what my friend Josh was doing, a couple years ago we were getting treated like the young kids on the team," Pratt said.

"I just wanted to show people, and so did Josh, that we're not 16-year-old boys anymore and we're here to do business.

The 2020 swim trials were cancelled with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This year's trials originally scheduled for April in Toronto were postponed to May and again to June while Ontario grappled with cases of infection.

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The five-day trials, featuring 185 swimmers from 64 clubs across the country, are held under pandemic protocols and restrictions, and are the primary means of selecting Canada's Olympic swim team.

Tokyo's Olympic Games open July 23 and close Aug. 8.

Canada can send a maximum of two swimmers per event per gender, but in addition to finishing top two at trials, racing under the 'A' qualifying time set by the world governing body FINA is needed.

Thormeyer was pre-selected in the men's 200 backstroke joining Toronto's Penny Oleksiak, world champion backstroker Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., world champion butterflyer Maggie Mac Neil of London, Ont., Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., and Sydney Pickrem of Clearwater, Fla.

Masse is the reigning world champion in the 100-metre backstroke, as is Mac Neil in the 100 butterfly.

The two women were assured Tokyo entries in those events, but both got on the start blocks Saturday to take advantage of race reps they'd been missing because of the pandemic.

"For me, it was just about getting up there and racing," Mac Neil said. "Definitely tonight made it feel more real than it's been in the last five months. I'm definitely more excited heading into July."

Savard finishes 2nd behind Mac Neil in butterfly

Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., was second to Mac Neil in butterfly to qualify to be nominated for her third Olympic team.

Savard, 28, earned Olympic relay bronze in 2016 swimming the lead-off leg for Canada in the 4 x 200 freestyle.

"I had a dream to go to the Olympics for a third time," Savard said. "This year has been one of my best years. I'm really happy about what I see in the pool right now."

Toronto's Kate Sanderson also qualified for the Olympic team Saturday in Setubal, Portugal where she finished third in a 10-kilometre open-water race.

Trials continue Sunday in Toronto with men's and women's 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre breaststroke.

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