LaSalle, Ont. swimmer Kylie Masse scores second silver medal
It was another big night in the pool for LaSalle’s Kylie Masse.
The 25-year-old swimmer collected her second silver medal of the Olympics Friday night, getting edged out by Australian Kaylee McKeown with a new national record of two minutes 5.42 seconds.
“We’re excited for her. It’s really pretty unbelievable,” Kylie’s mother Cindy tells CTV News. “I’m not sure we can really process it.”
Fresh off a silver medal in the 100 metre backstroke earlier in the week, Masse made a strong run for gold Friday night, jumping out to an early lead.
“She started so fast. She put out everything that she had and a little more,” says her former coach at the Windsor-Essex Swim Team, Andrei Semenov.
Masse held that lead nearly the whole race, hanging on for all but the final few metres.
“She held it together really well and coming down that last 50 metres I had to get out of my seat, you know, I couldn’t sit still,” says former WEST teammate, Andrew Binder.
“She wanted it so badly,” says Semenov, who coached Kylie for a decade before she went to school at the University of Toronto.
Semenov says in his 42-year coaching career, Masse is the most coachable swimmer he’s ever worked with — and she deserves the accolades.
“Not too many people in the world have two silver medals from the Olympic Games,” he says.
It’s the fifth medal from Canada’s women in the pool this Olympics.
“We’re really excited and pleased to see everyone doing so well,” Cindy Masse says. “So it’s just really nice to see everyone have such a good meet, especially after the kind of year they’ve had.”
Masse didn’t even qualify for the 200 backstroke in Rio in 2016, but teammates say she put in the time at the pool, consistent training that paid off.
“And now to come back five years later and a very unique situation with COVID and the Olympic Games and win two silver medals, to improve on her placement on her best event, is amazing,” says Binder.
He hopes the three-time medalist will give it another shot in Paris in 2024.
“That Olympic gold medal is still the one thing not on the resume,” says Binder. “It’s only three more years until Paris, so it’ll be interesting to see what she does in the future.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for 'all parties' to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.