Kylie Masse makes Canadian swimming history at world short course championships
LaSalle, Ont., native wins bronze for 20th world championship medal of her career
Kylie Masse became Canada's most decorated athlete with her 20th combined medal at short and long course worlds, collecting bronze in the women's 50-metre backstroke.
The 28-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., entered Friday tied with the now-retired Maggie Mac Neil.
"It's pretty special. More recently, I've been trying to soak [in the moment] more," Masse, whose 19 other medals are at her parents' house, told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports.
Masse was third midway through the race at Duna Arena, 11-100ths of a second behind leader and eventual American gold medallist Regan Smith, who lowered Mac Neil's two-year world record by 2-100ths to finish in 25.23.
"That is an incredible, incredible feat," Canadian swimmer Ingrid Wilm said of her teammate's success. "She's such a fantastic human, not just swimmer. She's such a leader and I feel it goes unnoticed in the swimming world. She's always there to uplift you and brings out the best in everyone."
The silver medal went to Smith's teammate, Katharine Berkoff (25.61).
WATCH | Masse earns bronze in women's 50m backstroke:
Masse touched the wall in 25.78 for her 11th career world short course medal after a silver-medal effort in the mixed 50 medley relay earlier in the week with Ilya Kharun, Finlay Knox and Wilm, who fell short of her fourth medal of the week, placing fourth (25.88).
"Many of [my 20] medals were a part of relay teams so I feel very fortunate that I have such great teammates and have been given opportunities to race on relays in order to continue that count," said Masse, a five-time Olympic medallist.
Earlier, Wilm helped Canada to its 10th medal at these championships, clocking one minute 28.60 seconds for silver with Yuri Kisil, Mary-Sophie Harvey and Kharun in the mixed 50 freestyle relay.
Penny Oleksiak, Finlay Knox, Harvey and Kisil qualified the Canadians for the final earlier in the day.
"It's so exciting to be with this team starting the [evening] session," Kharun, who gave Canada the early lead out of the blocks, told Devin Heroux of CBC Sports.
WATCH | Canada's mixed 50m medley relay squad secures silver medal:
Wilm, 26, began her podium push Tuesday with bronze in the 100 free relay and doubled up Wednesday in the mixed 4x50 medley relay (silver) and 100 backstroke (bronze).
For Harvey, it was her third medal in Budapest after bronze in the 400 free and 100m free relay.
"It was a really fun relay. 50 free is still new [for me] but I was pumped to be with these guys [and leaning on] their experience."
Kisil was the lone returnee from the squad that captured gold in this event three years ago in Abu Dhabi in a Canadian record 1:28.55.
"It's always a treat to do it with a new, different kind of group and everyone's a friend of mine," the 29-year-old three-time Olympian told Swimming Canada. "Everyone brings kind of new, different vibes to the team, and the vibes are really fun, really good."
Italy won Friday's race in 1:28.50, while Poland earned bronze.
With 11 medals — three gold, three silver and five bronze — Canada is second to the United States, which boasts 26, including 13 gold, before the final two days of competition.
'4th place stings a little'
Later, Harvey was fourth in the women's 100 medley final with another Canadian record, stopping the clock in 57.04 seconds. She went 57.19 in the semifinals to break Kayla Sanchez's 57.80 national mark from Dec. 21, 2018.
"It's hard to be disappointed, even though fourth place stings a little," Harvey told Heroux. "I'm excited [Saturday] is the [400 medley heats] and more my specialty. It should be fun."
American Gretchen Walsh clocked a winning 55.11 for her third world record on Friday, with teammate Kate Douglass taking silver (56.49).
"It should start getting old at this point but it's never going to," CBC Sports analyst Brittany MacLean said of Walsh, who took 6-10ths off her previous world mark.
WATCH | Full replay coverage of Friday's morning events from Hungary::
Kharun makes 'big mistake'
Kharun will not record a fourth medal performance in Hungary on Saturday in the men's 100 butterfly after placing 10th in the semifinals (49.39) and falling 10-100ths shy of the final qualifier, Simon Bucher of Austria.
Kharun began to tighten over the final 50 metres when he usually fights back against the competition, according to MacLean. "He never had that extra push."
"I had a lot of power [but] made a big mistake keeping back [my] energy on the third lap," said Kharun, who was the fastest qualifer in the heats in 49.17. "I've just got to learn from it."
Switzerland's Noe Ponti, with two gold medals this week, won Kharun's semifinal race in 48.89 and topped the field in qualifying.
On Wednesday, the 19-year-old Kharun set another Canadian mark, lowering his own record time with a 21.67-second clocking in the men's 50 butterfly. His previous best was 22.28 from this event two years ago in Melbourne.
The Montreal native was a bronze medallist in the 100 fly at the Paris Olympics.
Focusing on each race is key, Harvey said, to handling the emotions of a meet.
"Not getting overwhelmed by any performance," she noted
In the men's 200 free relay, Tristan Jankovics, Alex Axon, Blake Tierney and Timothé Barbeau qualified for the eighth and last spot in Friday's final but later withdrew to rest for individual events later in the competition.
Other Canadian results Friday:
- Alexanne Lepage, age 19, tied for 13th in women's 200m breaststroke heats (personal best 2:21.79). She was part of the women's 4x100 freestyle relay team that earned bronze Tuesday.
- Oliver Dawson, age 16, 21st in men's 200m breaststroke (Canadian age group record of 2:07.61).
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