Five Canadian swimmers found the podium in Spain
On the first day of the second leg of the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour five Canadian swimmers — Kylie Masse, Ingrid Wilm, Kayla Sanchez, Margaret Mac Neil and Regan Rathwell found themselves with podium finishes in Barcelona, Spain.
In the women’s 50m backstroke, an event not part of the Olympic program, Kylie Masse, silver medalist in the 100m backstroke at Tokyo 2020, won the gold medal with a time of 27.47 seconds. Fellow Canadian Ingrid Wilm finished second in 27.85s, while Italian Silvia Scalia (27.89s) completed the podium.
In the absence of Masse during the first stage of the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour last weekend in Monaco, Wilm won the 50m and 100m backstroke there.
READ: Ingrid Wilm swims to two backstroke golds
Kayla Sanchez and Margaret Mac Neil, both silver medalists in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay at Tokyo 2020, took the podium in the women’s 100m freestyle. Sanchez clocked 54.24 seconds to finish behind Dutchman Marrit Steenbergen (54.16s). Olympic champion in the 100m butterfly, Mac Neil finished third in 54.38 s.
Canada’s Margaret Mac Neil prepares to swim in the women’s 100m butterfly final during the Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, July 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn 
Canadian swimmer Kayla Sanchez competes in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Sunday, July 25, 2021. Photo by Mark Blinch/COC
In the second backstroke event on Wednesday, Regan Rathwell posted her best time ever to win the 200m in 2 minutes 09.54 seconds to claim Canada’s fifth medal of the day.
Three other Canadian swimmers made it into the finals. Penny Oleksiak was seventh in the 50m butterfly (26.54s), while in the 200m medley Sydney Pickrem was sixth (2:12.50) and Summer McIntosh eighth (2:12.71).
The Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour will continue on Thursday. Swimmers will then move on to Canet-en-Roussillon, France, where the last stop of the circuit will take place on Saturday and Sunday.
Several National Swim Team athletes are taking part in these competitions as part of their preparation for the 2022 FINA World Championships which will take place June 18-25 in Budapest, Hungary.
