Canadian swimmer Masse sets 100-metre backstroke record at world championships
Around this time last year, Kylie Masse might not have pictured herself as a world champion and record holder. That all changed at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Still riding the momentum from the bronze medal she won at the 2016 Games, Masse roared to victory in the 100-metre backstroke in a world-record time Tuesday at the world swimming championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the process she became Canada’s first ever woman world champion swimmer.
Masse powered to the wall in a time of 58.10 seconds, edging the previous long-course backstroke record of 58.12 seconds set by British swimmer Gemma Spofforth at the 2009 world championships in Rome.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” Masse said in a conference call Tuesday. “I touched the wall and looked back and had to make sure I was looking at the right name and the right time. I was just super excited. In the moment I don’t even know what I was thinking but excitement and joy.”