Kylie Masse

Biography

Kylie Masse is a four-time Olympic medallist. Three of those were won in her second Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020 where she claimed silver in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events to go with a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay. Canadian records were set in the two latter events. Masse was just the fourth woman to ever finish as runner-up in both backstroke events at the same Olympic Games.  

In her Olympic debut at Rio 2016, Masse won bronze in the 100m backstroke, setting a national record in the process. She also swam the leadoff backstroke leg for the 4x100m medley relay that set a national record in finishing fifth.

Masse has won eight career medals at the FINA World Championships, tying her for second all-time among Canadian swimmers. In 2017, Masse made history by becoming the first Canadian woman to win a world title in swimming. She captured gold in the 100m backstroke by setting a world record time of 58.10 seconds. She added a bronze medal as a member of the mixed 4x100m medley relay and got close to the podium in the women’s 4x100m medley relay (4^th) and 200m backstroke (5^th).

Masse successfully defended her 100m backstroke title at the 2019 FINA World Championships, making her the first Canadian swimmer to ever win back-to-back gold medals in the same event. She also stood on the podium in the 200m backstroke and the women’s 4x100m medley relay, winning bronze in both. She went on to be named Swimming Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year for the third straight year.

Masse also won three medals at the 2022 FINA Worlds, highlighted by her gold in the 50m backstroke. She added silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 4x100m medley relay.

Masse won gold in the 100m and 200m backstroke events at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, setting Commonwealth records in both. She also came home with silver medals from the 50m backstroke and 4x100m medley relay. She was a five-time medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with gold in the 50m backstroke and four silver medals (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 4x100m medley relay, 4x100m mixed medley relay).

In 2018 Masse won 100m backstroke gold at the Pan Pacific Championships after breaking the meet record in the preliminaries and was named female swimmer of the championships.

Masse represented Canada at the World University Games in 2015 where she won gold in the 100m backstroke. Competing regularly for the University of Toronto, she was named the Varsity Blues’ female rookie of the year in 2014-15. She was named U of T’s female athlete of the year each of the next four years (2015-16 to 2018-19). In 2015-16 she also won the BLG Award as the female athlete of the year in Canadian university sport. Her previous multi-sport experience includes a trip to the Canada Games in 2013.

A Little More About Kylie

Getting into the Sport: Started swimming competitively at age 10… After doing summer swim team with her siblings, decided she liked swimming and joined the competitive team in her area… Outside Interests: Studying kinesiology at the University of Toronto; would like to pursue a career in health care… Enjoys fashion, dance, travelling, delicious food…Odds and Ends: Nickname Ky… Likes to buy something during travels to remind her of the trip…