Sebastian Massabie Named Canada’s Breakout Paralympic Swimmer of the Year
Sebastian Massabie’s first year on the international Paralympic swimming scene was a memorable one, culminating last week in being named Swimming Canada’s Paralympic Breakout Swimmer of the Year.
Massabie, 19, is the fifth winner of the award. It’s been a quick ascent for the native of Surrey, British Columbia. He received his classification in December 2023 at the Ken Demchuk International Swim Meet, which set him on the path toward Paralympic qualification. At that meet, he set six Canadian records and was named the male swimmer of the meet.
Massabie set the S4 world record in the men’s 50 butterfly at the Citi World Para Swimming Series in Indianapolis in April, then lowered it at Bell Canadian Trials among six national marks.
At the Paris Olympics, he finished fifth in the S4 100 free and sixth in the 200 free. He then finished the meet with gold in the 50 free, the first Canadian to ever win a gold medal in that classification.
“I feel very proud and grateful to receive this honour,” Massabie said in a press release.
Massabie took down the Olympic record with a time of 36.95 in prelims, then dashed the world record of Israel’s Ami Omer Dadaon in finals by going 35.61, taking six tenths off the mark.
“Honestly this whole year hasn’t fully set in yet,” said Jy Lawrence, Massabie’s coach since 2019 with Pacific Sea Wolves Swim Club. “There have been so many milestone achievements, and I still need some time to reflect on what this means for me. It’s been exceptional and I’m very excited to see what else we can do together.”
The relationship between Massabie and Lawrence is part of what is driving him onward. The next big meet on the calendar is the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, which Massabie is working towards.
“I just trust the programming and do what Coach Jy tells me,” Massabie said. “Training hard and good communication are essential.”