2022 Bell Canadian Trials: Kylie Masse Caps Backstroke Triple in 200

Kylie Masse; Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

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2022 Bell Canadian Trials: Kylie Masse Caps Backstroke Triple in 200

Kylie Masse, in a manner exemplifying what makes her such a great leader for Swimming Canada, started the week at Bell Canadian Trials with a note of gratitude, to the young swimmers pushing her to constantly get faster.

She ended the qualification meet for the 2022 World Championships having left no doubt as to who the presiding Canadian backstroke power is, yesterday and today.

Masse made it 3-for-3 in backstroke events in Saanich Commonwealth Place, roaring away from the field to win the 200.

She went 2:07.66, more than three seconds faster than her prelims swim and almost two seconds quicker than the runner-up. It’s within two seconds of Masse’s national record of 2:05.94.

“It’s not where I want to be but it’s where I am right now,” Masse said in a Swimming Canada press release. “I will learn from this race and use it this summer. It’s been a long week. It’s nice to finally be at a meet again with more swimmers.”

Already this week, Masse won the 50 back, which she considers a weak point in her program, lowering her national record by nearly a half-second. She won the 100 back, an event in which she has medaled at each of the last two Olympics, as well as the 50 butterfly.

The 200 might be the best encapsulation of Masse’s mastery of the stroke. She was second at the 100-yard wall to Taylor Ruck, thanks to a relatively sluggish second 50 of 33.10. But she worked the third 50 with a split of 32.13, taking seven tenths out of Ruck, and came home in 32.42.

Ruck was second in 2:09.63, within a half-second of where she was at Olympic Trials 10 months ago. Ingrid Wilm finished third in 2:11.61. The FINA A standard is 2:11.08.

Event 43  Women 200 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
        WORLD: w 2:03.35  2019-07-26Regan Smith, USA
          CAN: n 2:05.94  2019-04-05Kylie Masse, TSC
    Name           Year Team              Prelims     Finals  FINA       
==================================================================
                        === A - Final ===                         
 
  1 Masse, Kylie     96 TSC               2:10.70    2:07.66   902  
    r:+0.55  30.01      1:03.11 (33.10)
        1:35.24 (32.13)     2:07.66 (32.42)
  2 Ruck, Taylor     00 SCAR              2:11.86    2:09.63   861  
    r:+0.59  30.37      1:02.87 (32.50)
        1:35.76 (32.89)     2:09.63 (33.87)
  3 Wilm, Ingrid K   98 CASC              2:13.94    2:11.61   823  
    r:+0.61  31.40      1:05.32 (33.92)
        1:39.16 (33.84)     2:11.61 (32.45)
  4 Zavaros, Rosie   00 MAC               2:12.44    2:12.57   805  
    r:+0.59  31.11      1:05.10 (33.99)
        1:38.81 (33.71)     2:12.57 (33.76)
  5 Harvey, Mary-Sophie  99 CAMO          2:13.34    2:13.13   795  
    r:+0.60  30.92      1:04.96 (34.04)
        1:39.78 (34.82)     2:13.13 (33.35)
  6 Schroeder, Katie 05 LOSC              2:14.22    2:13.63   786  
             31.54      1:05.72 (34.18)
        1:39.94 (34.22)     2:13.63 (33.69)
  7 Rathwell, Regan  04 GO                2:13.42    2:13.66   785  
    r:+0.58  31.13      1:04.22 (33.09)
        1:39.06 (34.84)     2:13.66 (34.60)
  8 McMillan, Ashley 04 GO                2:14.63    2:15.48   754  
    r:+0.64  31.23      1:04.13 (32.90)
        1:39.12 (34.99)     2:15.48 (36.36)

Summer McIntosh added another feather in her cap with an excellent 400 individual medley, winning in 4:34.86. She was more than four second clear of the field, and while she was well slower than her national record in the event (4:29.12), she was safely inside the A standard of 4:43.06.

“I’m not that happy with the race,” McIntosh said. “I thought I could have been a little bit faster. There are always things to learn in every race.”

McIntosh has assembled another stellar meet, the 15-year-old winning the 400 free, 200 free and 200 fly. She set a national record in the 400 free. She is the top seed in the 800 free on Sunday, the meet’s final day.

Tessa Cieplucha got under the FINA auto standard with a time of 4:39.49 that landed the Olympian in second place. Ella Jansen and Mabel Zavaros were both in the 4:41s in the battle for third. Bailey Andison, who swam in Tokyo in the 200 IM, finished fifth, her second fifth-place IM finish of the week. Sydney Pickrem, who qualified for the event in Tokyo, did not swim it in Victoria.

Event 45  Women 400 LC Meter IM
==================================================================
        WORLD: w 4:26.36  2016-08-06Katinka Hosszu, HUN
          CAN: n 4:32.52  2015-08-09Emily Overholt, WVOSC
    Name           Year Team              Prelims     Finals  FINA       
==================================================================
                        === A - Final ===                         
 
  1 McIntosh, Summer 06 ESWIM             4:38.89    4:34.86   910  
    r:+0.77  28.52      1:00.88 (32.36)
        1:35.60 (34.72)     2:10.30 (34.70)
        2:50.61 (40.31)     3:31.92 (41.31)
        4:04.12 (32.20)     4:34.86 (30.74)
  2 Cieplucha, Tessa  98 MAC               4:43.91    4:39.49   865  
    r:+0.84  29.69      1:03.67 (33.98)
        1:40.03 (36.36)     2:15.97 (35.94)
        2:55.31 (39.34)     3:35.37 (40.06)
        4:07.83 (32.46)     4:39.49 (31.66)
  3 Jansen, Ella     05 ESWIM             4:47.69    4:41.43   847  
    r:+0.75  29.31      1:02.84 (33.53)
        1:39.17 (36.33)     2:14.38 (35.21)
        2:55.40 (41.02)     3:36.95 (41.55)
        4:09.58 (32.63)     4:41.43 (31.85)
  4 Zavaros, Mabel   00 MAC               4:48.76    4:41.52   846  
    r:+0.70  29.22      1:02.79 (33.57)
        1:38.40 (35.61)     2:14.13 (35.73)
        2:55.50 (41.37)     3:37.79 (42.29)
        4:10.44 (32.65)     4:41.52 (31.08)
  5 Andison, Bailey  97 CPWD              4:46.82    4:44.56   820  
    r:+0.67  29.86      1:04.46 (34.60)
        1:42.39 (37.93)     2:18.61 (36.22)
        2:58.32 (39.71)     3:38.52 (40.20)
        4:11.59 (33.07)     4:44.56 (32.97)
  6 Hazle, Kathryn   04 UNCAN/NCA-SI      4:49.15    4:46.45   804  
    r:+0.63  30.70      1:05.78 (35.08)
        1:44.33 (38.55)     2:21.66 (37.33)
        3:01.31 (39.65)     3:41.77 (40.46)
        4:14.60 (32.83)     4:46.45 (31.85)

On the men’s side, Richie Stokes set a best time of 1:58.79, his first sub-1:59 swim. It’s shy of the 1:58.07 auto cut but it gives the Canadians another contender outside of Markus Thormeyer, who skipped this meet. Second was Blake Tierney in 1:59.19.

“That was a little unexpected,” the 21-year-old Stokes said. “I knew I had it (in me) but there was lots of nerves and lots of worries about whether or not I could do it. I have wanted this since I was 10 years old. It’s ridiculous. I’m probably going to go home and cry I’m so happy. It’s everything to me.”

The fastest swim of the night came from the B final, where Greek swimmer Vaggelis Makrygiannis just missed out on an auto cut in a personal-best 1:58.16.

In the 400 IM, Collyn Gagne came agonizingly close to the auto standard, just .38 off it with a winning time of 4:17.82. Only he and Jacob Gallant (4:19.68) cracked 4:20.

“I went out a little faster than I normally do,” Gagne said. “There comes a cost with that. That last 50 I was falling apart and saw the other guys catching, In the end I was able to hold on.”

Third was 16-year-old Lorne Wiggington of Calgary in 4:21.83. That’s a huge swim, lopping eight seconds off a personal-best set in just February.

The meet concludes Sunday with the 200 breaststroke, the 50 freestyle, the women’s 800 free and the men’s 1,500 free.

Event 44  Men 200 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
        WORLD: w 1:51.92  2009-07-31Aaron Peirsol, USA
          CAN: n 1:56.96  2019-07-25Markus Thormeyer, UBCTS
    Name           Year Team              Prelims     Finals  FINA       
==================================================================
                        === A - Final ===                         
 
  1 Stokes, Richie   00 UCSC              2:01.51    1:58.79   836  
    r:+0.59  28.27        58.46 (30.19)
        1:28.97 (30.51)     1:58.79 (29.82)
  2 Tierney, Blake   02 GOLD/UBCT         2:01.69    1:59.19   827  
    r:+0.58  28.03        58.18 (30.15)
        1:28.41 (30.23)     1:59.19 (30.78)
  3 McNeill, Hugh    03 UBCT              2:01.97    2:01.69   777  
    r:+0.60  28.26        59.16 (30.90)
        1:30.84 (31.68)     2:01.69 (30.85)
  4 Norman, Aiden    06 UCSC              2:03.61    2:02.23   767  
    r:+0.69  29.04        59.67 (30.63)
        1:30.41 (30.74)     2:02.23 (31.82)
  5 Loewen, Benjamin  04 CREST             2:03.86    2:02.81   756  
    r:+0.62  29.49      1:00.98 (31.49)
        1:32.45 (31.47)     2:02.81 (30.36)
  6 Courville Fortin, Loic  04 CAMO        2:04.05    2:03.56   743  
    r:+0.57  29.27      1:00.68 (31.41)
        1:32.14 (31.46)     2:03.56 (31.42)
  7 Jankovics, Tristan  04 WCW             2:06.25    2:05.16   715  
    r:+0.57  28.93      1:00.38 (31.45)
        1:32.43 (32.05)     2:05.16 (32.73)
  8 Douglas, Laird   00 UBCT              2:05.59    2:05.27   713  
             29.70      1:01.64 (31.94)
        1:33.89 (32.25)     2:05.27 (31.38)

Event 46  Men 400 LC Meter IM
==================================================================
        WORLD: w 4:03.84  2008-08-10Michael Phelps, USA
          CAN: n 4:11.41  2008-08-09Brian Johns, UBCD
    Name           Year Team              Prelims     Finals  FINA       
==================================================================
                        === A - Final ===                         
 
  1 Gagne, Collyn    00 SFA               4:23.13    4:17.82   845  
    r:+0.67  26.97        57.58 (30.61)
        1:30.61 (33.03)     2:02.84 (32.23)
        2:38.96 (36.12)     3:15.84 (36.88)
        3:47.51 (31.67)     4:17.82 (30.31)
  2 Gallant, Jacob   02 FAST              4:23.20    4:19.68   827  
    r:+0.76  27.52        59.07 (31.55)
        1:33.39 (34.32)     2:07.26 (33.87)
        2:42.84 (35.58)     3:18.85 (36.01)
        3:49.36 (30.51)     4:19.68 (30.32)
  3 Wigginton, Lorne 05 UCSC              4:24.10    4:21.83   807  
    r:+0.66  27.63        59.12 (31.49)
        1:33.83 (34.71)     2:08.07 (34.24)
        2:44.79 (36.72)     3:22.20 (37.41)
        3:52.87 (30.67)     4:21.83 (28.96)
  4 Loewen, Benjamim 04 CREST             4:31.99    4:27.55   757  
    r:+0.65  26.98        58.71 (31.73)
        1:33.17 (34.46)     2:06.21 (33.04)
        2:45.48 (39.27)     3:25.24 (39.76)
        3:57.67 (32.43)     4:27.55 (29.88)
  5 Skalenda, Charlie  04 CREST           4:34.86    4:30.17   735  
    r:+0.65  28.20      1:00.54 (32.34)
        1:35.72 (35.18)     2:10.82 (35.10)
        2:48.27 (37.45)     3:27.51 (39.24)
        3:59.35 (31.84)     4:30.17 (30.82)
  6 Hussey, Patrick  01 PCSC              4:34.05    4:34.72   699  
    r:+0.67  27.78        59.78 (32.00)
        1:36.91 (37.13)     2:12.42 (35.51)
        2:51.56 (39.14)     3:31.42 (39.86)
        4:04.01 (32.59)     4:34.72 (30.71)
  7 Van Herk, Brendan  99 OTT             4:35.91    4:34.85   698  
    r:+0.64  27.97      1:00.06 (32.09)
        1:36.45 (36.39)     2:12.48 (36.03)
        2:51.70 (39.22)     3:31.41 (39.71)
        4:03.67 (32.26)     4:34.85 (31.18)
  8 Syrgiannis, Mathew  03 ROD            4:33.77    4:37.87   675  
    r:+0.62  28.54      1:01.36 (32.82)
        1:36.32 (34.96)     2:11.25 (34.93)
        2:51.60 (40.35)     3:34.69 (43.09)
        4:05.71 (31.02)     4:37.87 (32.16)

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