Kylie Masse picked up fifth medal for Canada in swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics to ink her name in the history books. With another bronze to her name, she has now become the first Canadian swimmer to win individual medals at three Olympics.
Although the Canadian veteran arrived with big expectations and a hope of taking gold home, it wasn’t a day for her. Masse (2:05.57) finished third in the 200m backstroke with Australia’s McKeown (2:03.73) winning gold and USA’s Smith (2:04.26) winning silver.
The 28-year-old took the lead right from the start and was first to touch the wall on the first lap. However, on the third lap of four, she began to lose ground to the leaders. Dropping to the fourth spot on the last lap, she knew the medal spot was hers to take. Pulling her string in the last few meters, she overtook Phoebe Bacon and finished third at 2:05.57 making it Canada’s fifth Olympic swimming medal in Paris 2024. 
“That last 35 meters, I felt my entire body just giving every last little bit”, the fatigued Masse told CBC Olympics after the race. “That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to leave it all in the pool and just see what I can do. I’m just so happy to get on the podium.”
“Honestly, coming into the race, I was really telling myself to enjoy it and to look up and see the Canadian flags because you never know if you’ll be back again. Just wanted to soak in the moment as much as possible,” the veteran Olympian added.
The LaSalle native was one of the four athletes named captain by Swimming Canada and chosen by her teammates. She is world-class swimmer since winning bronze in 100m backstroke at Rio Olympics 2016, and double silver at Tokyo Olympics in both 100m and 200m backstroke. Though she couldn’t reach the podium at the Paris 2024 Olympics in her first event, she seems to have it covered in her next event.
Liendo and Knox Close Miss in Paris 2024
While there were moments of triumph, there were also heartbreaks for Team Canada ,as Josh Liendo narrowly missed the podium in the 50m men’s freestyle final by just 0.02 sec. There were many who had high hopes from Liendo to break the men’s medal drought with a name beside Ilya.
Even so, Liendo and Ilya Kharun still had fire in their bellies when they raced in the men’s 100m butterfly. In the semifinals, Liendo came in third with the fastest time, while Ilya came in sixth with the fastest time. In the midst of the men’s swimming finals, both will be in the spotlight and will have high hopes to deliver a stellar performance for the male team.
As the day passed, Canadian fans watched Felix Knox finish eighth in the men’s 200m individual medley, crushing their dream of another medal. Taking the spot in 1:57.26, the two-time Olympian would return home without a medal to his name.
Summer Poised for Another Glory at Paris 2024
Also on a day packed with events for Canada, Summer McNtosh qualified for the finals of the women’s 200m individual medley, where she will compete for another medal at Paris 2024. She was accompanied by Sydney Pickerman who finished fifth in the semifinals.
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