Canadian Olympic Trials: Kylie Masse Makes Statement with 57.70 100 Back
Kylie Masse watched what transpired on the global backstroking scene in recent weeks. She’d be lying if she said otherwise. But when she got in the water Saturday night at Canadian Olympic Trials, it was all about her race and her goals.
Masse hit them, with a long-awaited breaking of the 58-second mark to win the event in 57.70 seconds. She joins select company in the sub-58 category. Australian Kaylee McKeown re-set the world record last week at 57.45 seconds. American Regan Smith, who’d held that mark at 57.57, went 58.35 to win U.S. Olympic Trials.
“I think it’s amazing seeing all the fast times around the world,” Kylie Masse said. “I’ve tried to stay in the present moment about what’s going on in our own country and I’ve had to accept that this whole year and a half, you can only control competitions and training in our own country. I’ve just been focusing on myself and the 58 barrier, I’ve been champing at the bit to break for a few years now, and it feels amazing to have done that.”
- Live Results
- Day 1 prelims: Joshua Liendo Kicks off Canadian Olympic Trials with National Record in 100 Fly
- Day 1 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Katerine Savard Books Third Olympic Trip in 100 Fly
Masse downs her national record from 2017, which had held at 58.10. Her margin of victory Saturday was nearly two seconds over the field, going out nearly a second faster than anyone else in 28.07 and coming back in the only sub-30 split (29.63).
Taylor Ruck; Photo Courtesy: Scott Grant/Swimming Canada
Masse said that the time wasn’t meant to be a message sent to her fellow elite backstrokers. With all the challenges in Canada and a twice-delayed Trials uncharacteristically late in the schedule, it’s more a statement to herself to alleviate doubt. It certainly reaffirms that the two-time reigning World Champ in the event is a prime contender in Tokyo.
“I just want to be the fastest I can possibly be, and I’ve been trying to break that 58 barrier,” Kylie Masse said. “I was really happy to do that here tonight.”
Ever the Canadian leader, Masse shared a hug with Taylor Ruck, who punched her ticket to Tokyo with a time of 59.60. She’d already had an Olympic A cut, but she fended off the advance by Ingrid Wilm, who earned an A cut in the morning at 59.88 and was third in finals at 1:00.19.
Ruck had been pre-selected for the Games in the 100 free.
“I’m so happy for Tay,” Masse said. “We’ve had the opportunity to train together here for the last year and a half when I joined the (Toronto High Performance) Centre here when pools reopened again. I have so much respect for her and she’s been an amazing training partner who’s pushed me in sets for the last year and a half, and I couldn’t be more happy for her to have made the 100 back and for us to be on this journey together to Tokyo.”
Women’s 100 backstroke
Event 3 Women 100 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 58.10 2017-07-25Kylie Masse, WEST
OLYMPIC A: A 1:00.25
Name Year Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Masse, Kylie 96 TSC 58.13 57.70N
r:+0.57 28.07 57.70 (29.63)
2 Ruck, Taylor 00 SCAR 1:00.49 59.60A
r:+0.63 29.01 59.60 (30.59)
3 Wilm, Ingrid 98 CASC 59.88 1:00.19A
r:+0.67 29.76 1:00.19 (30.43)
4 Harvey, Mary-Sophie 99 CAMO 1:00.39 1:00.67
r:+0.62 29.54 1:00.67 (31.13)
5 Hanus, Danielle 98 ISC 1:00.79 1:01.39
r:+0.62 29.97 1:01.39 (31.42)
6 Rathwell, Regan 04 GO 1:01.78 1:01.55
r:+0.63 29.74 1:01.55 (31.81)
7 Janvier, Aela 99 PCSC 1:02.10 1:01.94
r:+0.60 30.38 1:01.94 (31.56)
8 Varga, Ella 04 UCSC 1:02.85 1:02.45
r:+0.61 30.43 1:02.45 (32.02)
9 Hannah, Jade 02 HTAC 1:02.53 1:02.71
r:+0.62 29.69 1:02.71 (33.02)
10 Kary, Raili 02 TSC 1:02.84 1:03.43
r:+0.62 30.69 1:03.43 (32.74)
Men’s 100 backstroke
Cole Pratt delivered an outstanding evening swim to make sure two Canadians will head to Tokyo in the event, getting under the A cut to finish second din 53.54. He gave Markus Thormeyer a run, though the veteran Olympian still got his hand to the wall first in 53.40.
“I think it’s still sinking in,” Pratt said. “It hasn’t really hit me yet.”
Pratt, a Calgary native, joins the youth movement on display at Trials. He said he got a boost Saturday morning seeing fellow 18-year-old Joshua Liendo set a Canadian mark in the 100 butterfly, securing his Tokyo spot. He and the other younger members of the team showed that they’re no longer the kids on the team, but rather leaders in waiting.
“Big time,” Pratt said of Liendo’s swim. “Watching my friends go fast just pumps me up even more. Josh is a brother to me, and seeing my friends and family doing the best they can gets me even more excited to get in the water and race.”
Thormeyer already has his ticket to Tokyo punched in the 200 back via pre-selection. He’s trying to add at least two more events in the 100 back and 100 free.
“The race tonight, I think personally I didn’t go as fast as I would’ve wanted, but I guess I’m saving that for Tokyo,” Thormeyer said. “I kind of just went out, this morning wasn’t that great, so tonight, I wanted to make sure I’m feeling the water right on the first 50 and I think I started to pay for it a bit at the end. I kind of faded a bit and I saw Cole coming up on me and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness this little kid, I don’t want to lose.’ So it was a good fight. I’m glad he was there to push me because I feel like I wouldn’t have gone as fast if he wasn’t there.”
Event 4 Men 100 LC Meter Backstroke
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 53.35 2019-04-03Markus Thormeyer, UBCTS
OLYMPIC A: A 53.85
Name Year Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Thormeyer, Markus 97 UBCT 54.18 53.40A
r:+0.67 25.68 53.40 (27.72)
2 Pratt, Cole 02 CASC 54.41 53.54A
r:+0.59 26.26 53.54 (27.28)
3 Acevedo, Javier 98 AAC 55.04 54.49
r:+0.56 26.42 54.49 (28.07)
4 Tierney, Blake 02 UBCT 55.24 54.92
r:+0.57 26.56 54.92 (28.36)
5 De Pol, Tayden 02 UBCT 55.23 55.19
r:+0.72 26.67 55.19 (28.52)
6 Marois, William 98 CAMO 55.48 55.84
r:+0.58 27.11 55.84 (28.73)
7 Hill, Robert 96 UCSC 55.92 56.22
r:+0.58 27.30 56.22 (28.92)
8 Zeng, Tim 97 UL 55.96 56.32
r:+0.58 26.96 56.32 (29.36)
9 McNeill, Hugh 03 LOSC 56.34 56.37
r:+0.68 27.55 56.37 (28.82)
10 Stokes, Richie 00 UCSC 56.34 56.53
r:+0.58 27.61 56.53 (28.92)
Women’s 400 freestyle
Neither distance event on Night 1 featured an Olympic A cut. That’s not a problem on the women’s side, given the 4:05.13 that Summer McIntosh laid down last month, which will earn a spot at the Olympics.
The win in Trials, which was done as timed finals, went to Alyson Ackman. The 28-year-old trimmed time off her seed, winning in 4:10.92, though that’s shy of the A cut of 4:07.90. Ackman retired in 2016 but has been reignited by coaching in the United States.
Second was Emily Overholt in 4:11.91. She owns an A cut of 4:06.27 that can be considered for selection. Emma O’Croinin was third in 4:12.10; she was unable to improve a seed time that is within .21 seconds of the A cut.
Event 5 Women 400 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 4:03.43 2016-08-07Brittany MacLean, ESWIM
OLYMPIC A: A 4:07.90
Name Year Team Seed Finals
==================================================================
1 Ackman, Alyson 93 PCSC 4:11.08 4:10.92
r:+0.66 28.65 59.66 (31.01)
1:30.85 (31.19) 2:02.74 (31.89)
2:34.45 (31.71) 3:06.59 (32.14)
3:38.77 (32.18) 4:10.92 (32.15)
2 Overholt, Emily 97 UBCT 4:06.27 4:11.91
r:+0.76 28.92 1:00.07 (31.15)
1:31.48 (31.41) 2:03.19 (31.71)
2:35.27 (32.08) 3:07.36 (32.09)
3:39.57 (32.21) 4:11.91 (32.34)
3 O'Croinin, Emma 03 EKSC 4:08.11 4:12.10
r:+0.76 28.85 1:00.32 (31.47)
1:32.08 (31.76) 2:03.60 (31.52)
2:35.02 (31.42) 3:06.92 (31.90)
3:39.49 (32.57) 4:12.10 (32.61)
4 Bellio, Katrina 04 ESWIM 4:13.43 4:12.15
r:+0.71 29.00 1:00.16 (31.16)
1:31.60 (31.44) 2:03.71 (32.11)
2:35.78 (32.07) 3:08.33 (32.55)
3:40.54 (32.21) 4:12.15 (31.61)
5 Smallegange, Kenna 03 BAD 4:16.59 4:17.71
r:+0.83 29.08 1:00.42 (31.34)
1:32.39 (31.97) 2:05.01 (32.62)
2:37.76 (32.75) 3:10.82 (33.06)
3:44.40 (33.58) 4:17.71 (33.31)
6 Jansen, Ella 05 ESWIM 4:18.01 4:19.69
r:+0.78 29.23 1:00.83 (31.60)
1:32.95 (32.12) 2:05.30 (32.35)
2:37.85 (32.55) 3:11.34 (33.49)
3:45.31 (33.97) 4:19.69 (34.38)
7 McCloy, Allison 99 UCSC 4:21.28 4:20.28
r:+0.79 30.13 1:02.24 (32.11)
1:34.89 (32.65) 2:07.90 (33.01)
2:40.98 (33.08) 3:14.24 (33.26)
3:47.67 (33.43) 4:20.28 (32.61)
8 Willar, Megan 04 PCSC 4:25.40 4:20.78
r:+0.74 29.84 1:02.39 (32.55)
1:35.95 (33.56) 2:09.56 (33.61)
2:42.76 (33.20) 3:15.98 (33.22)
3:48.44 (32.46) 4:20.78 (32.34)
It’s a different story on the men’s side, where there are no A cuts to be had. The race was won by Peter Brothers in 3:39.35, a cut of nearly four seconds off his seed time. Second is Jeremy Bagshaw, who improved his seed slightly to 3:50.10. Both remain well shy of the Olympic A cut of 3:46.78.
Men’s 400 freestyle
Event 6 Men 400 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 3:43.46 2014-07-24Ryan Cochrane, ISC
OLYMPIC A: A 3:46.78
Name Year Team Seed Finals
==================================================================
1 Brothers, Peter 96 UCSC 3:53.20 3:49.35
r:+0.71 26.67 55.05 (28.38)
1:23.48 (28.43) 1:52.53 (29.05)
2:21.34 (28.81) 2:50.45 (29.11)
3:19.68 (29.23) 3:49.35 (29.67)
2 Bagshaw, Jeremy 92 ISC 3:50.96 3:50.10
r:+0.74 26.62 54.69 (28.07)
1:23.19 (28.50) 1:52.11 (28.92)
2:21.30 (29.19) 2:51.00 (29.70)
3:20.80 (29.80) 3:50.10 (29.30)
3 Axon, Alexander 03 MAC 3:54.23 3:53.66
r:+0.70 26.76 55.43 (28.67)
1:24.28 (28.85) 1:54.00 (29.72)
2:24.17 (30.17) 2:54.28 (30.11)
3:24.58 (30.30) 3:53.66 (29.08)
4 Brown, Eric 02 PCSC 4:00.82 3:53.98
r:+0.73 27.14 56.18 (29.04)
1:25.39 (29.21) 1:54.85 (29.46)
2:24.43 (29.58) 2:54.25 (29.82)
3:24.27 (30.02) 3:53.98 (29.71)
5 Pratt, Alexander 00 UBCT 3:56.81 3:55.33
r:+0.83 27.21 57.13 (29.92)
1:26.92 (29.79) 1:57.27 (30.35)
2:27.51 (30.24) 2:57.97 (30.46)
3:27.60 (29.63) 3:55.33 (27.73)
6 Cote, Tristan 95 UCSC 3:54.76 3:55.35
r:+0.73 27.08 56.23 (29.15)
1:25.84 (29.61) 1:55.51 (29.67)
2:25.37 (29.86) 2:55.25 (29.88)
3:25.25 (30.00) 3:55.35 (30.10)
7 Li, Stanford 02 PCSC 3:56.69 3:55.47
r:+0.64 27.02 55.78 (28.76)
1:25.30 (29.52) 1:55.06 (29.76)
2:25.17 (30.11) 2:55.38 (30.21)
3:25.72 (30.34) 3:55.47 (29.75)
8 Paulins, Sebastian 98 BRANT 3:56.43 3:57.42
r:+0.69 27.16 56.64 (29.48)
1:26.30 (29.66) 1:56.45 (30.15)
2:26.65 (30.20) 2:57.54 (30.89)
3:27.77 (30.23) 3:57.42 (29.65)
