Kylie Jacqueline Masse (born January 18, 1996) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic medallist, having tied for the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 100 m backstroke and then won silver medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and a bronze medal in the 4x100 m medley. Masse is a two-time world champion in the 100 m backstroke, breaking the eight year old world record in the process, which she held until July 2018. While winning her title in Budapest at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships she became the first Canadian woman to become a world champion in a swimming event. She subsequently became the first Canadian woman to defend her world title at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. She is currently the captain for the Toronto Titans of the International Swimming League.
Masse won two gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke, setting a games record in both events, and finished the games with a silver in the 50 m backstroke. She is also the Canadian record holder in the 100 m backstroke. Masse won gold in the 100 m backstroke at the 2015 Summer Universiade and was the 2015–16 CIS swimmer of the year while swimming at the University of Toronto.
Career
Early career
Masse started swimming at a young age for the Windsor Essex Swim team and was coached by Andrei Semenov. She did not achieve success in the junior ranks, and in 2014 was rated 201st overall in the global rankings. She was then recruited to swim with the University of Toronto swim team, where her rapidly improving performances earned her the award for CIS swimmer of the year in both 2015 and 2016.
In April 2015, Masse participated in the Canadian swimming trials, hoping to make the team for the 2015 Pan American Games that were scheduled to be held on home soil in Toronto. She did not qualify for the Pan American Games, to her disappointment, but was instead named to the Canadian team for the 2015 Summer Universiade in Gwangju. In her first senior international event, Masse qualified to the final in the 100 m backstroke, where she was, at age 19, the youngest swimmer in the field. She won the gold medal, one of two for the Canadian team at the Universiade. Reflecting on the championship title five years later, Masse would remark that it "gave me so much confidence in my swimming" and propelled her to further results.
2016 season
2016 Summer Olympics
Masse qualified for the Canadian team for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Masse was Canada's lead competitor in the 100 m backstroke at the games, where set and improved the national record in the 100 m backstroke in both the heats and semi-finals. In the final she swam to a bronze medal tie with Fu Yuanhui while again bettering the national record, setting it at 58.76.
On the final day of swimming competition, Masse participated in her second event of the games, performing the backstroke leg for the Canadian women's team in the 4×100 m medley relay. Expectations for the team had been somewhat raised due to the strong performances of members throughout, including both Masse and breakout star Penny Oleksiak, but they ultimately finished in fifth place.
2016 World Swimming Championships
Following Rio de Janeiro, Masse's next event was her first World Swimming Championships, held in a short course (25 m) pool. The 2016 edition was held in her hometown of Windsor, Ontario, where her Olympic success had raised her to the level of local celebrity. Masse won the silver medal in the 100 m backstroke, finishing behind only reigning Olympic champion Katinka Hosszú. She won a second silver medal as part of the Canadian Canadian 4×100 m medley relay team. Commenting on the results, her coach Byron MacDonald predicted "the upside for Kylie is tremendous. You have to remember she's new to this. Anything can happen right now. She has not hit her limit yet."
2017 season
At the 2017 Canadian Swimming Championships, Masse broke the Americas record in the 100 m backstroke in a time of 58.21, which was also the fastest time ever in a textile suit and the third-fastest time in history at that time.