Kylie Masse books a ticket to her third Olympics

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The first time Kylie Masse came to the Pan Am Sports Centre in Toronto for a major swimming event, she had to buy a ticket and sit in the stands as a spectator, something she wasn’t happy about.

It was the 2015 Pan Am Games and the backstroke specialist from LaSalle, Ont., then 19 years old and yet to launch her storied career, sat with her parents overlooking the pool, quietly fuming she had missed the qualification.

Since then, she’s never had to buy a ticket again. Nearly a decade later, Masse has become the main event.

At that same pool Wednesday for the Canadian Olympic trials, the four-time Olympic medalist won the 100-metre backstroke, punching her ticket for the Paris Summer Games. It will be her third time representing Canada on the sport’s biggest stage.

Masse took the race in a time of 57.94 seconds, beating Calgary’s Ingrid Wilm, who also secured a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster, placing second with a time of 59.31. The top two swimmers in each event this week make the team for Paris.

It was Masse’s best race since 2021, putting her back in contention with the world’s best after a bumpy few years in which her times slipped. That led her to upend her training and move to Spain to compete and refocus.

“I’m very happy with that. It’s been a long time since I’ve been at 57, Masse said. “It’s been three years, so it feels really great.”

Wilm, who has been pushing Masse with her own rise up the international backstroke ranks, was more effusive in describing her teammate’s performance.

“Kylie Masse is such an icon and a legend,” Wilm said. “She’s really making a statement that Canada is also here.”

The race sets the stage for a showdown in Paris among Canada, the United States and Australia. All three countries have swimmers who have dipped below 58 seconds at recent events. Australia’s Kaylee McKeown set the world record this year in a time of 57.33, while Regan Smith of the United States swam in 57.64.

“A lot of my competitors around the world are throwing down 57s quite often, so for me this is a massive step forward,” Masse said.

“I think it just tells me that I’m in a really good spot, and I think I needed that to be able to continue to move forward and to just know what I’m capable of and to know where I’m at.”

The 28-year-old is a two-time world champion and former world record holder in the 100-metre backstroke. She won silver in the race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which followed a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Games.

Masse said she grew frustrated last year as her times lagged, but the race Wednesday showed her she was heading in the right direction.

“It’s a massive relief. I think over the last two years, I kind of had, as everyone does, small doubts,” said Masse, who will be looked upon to lead the Canadian team this summer in the relay events as well.

“To an extent, you begin to hyper-fixate on your weaknesses and you try really hard to fix things, or you try really hard to analyze something,” she said. “And I think, for me, I found that detrimental because I was just overthinking and that didn’t help me.”