CIS – Canadian Interuniversity Sport announced Wednesday 158 athletes associated with CIS member schools will compete for Canada at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

The CIS contingent, which represents over half of the 314 athletes on the 2016 Canadian Olympic Team, includes 81 current, incoming or former CIS student-athletes, and 77 athletes who have either competed in non-CIS sports, or studied at CIS institutions.

“We are extremely proud of all our athletes competing at the Rio 2016 Olympics with ties to university sports in Canada,” said Graham Brown, chief executive officer of CIS. “Each of them epitomize the dedication and passion of our student-athletes nationwide and we wish them the best of luck as they strive for gold.”

Kylie Masse (LaSalle, Ont.), the 2016 BLG Award winner as CIS Female Athlete of the Year, is one of seven current or future CIS athletes heading to Rio this summer. Masse, a swimmer heading into her third year with the University of Toronto, represented Canada at the 2015 Summer Universiade and is the Canadian record holder in the 100-metre backstroke.

Masse is joined at the Summer Games by fellow Varsity Blue Gabriela Stafford (Toronto, Ont.), who competes in track and field, York Lions track and field athlete Brittany Crew (East York, Ont.), and swimmers Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson (Ottawa, Ont.), Emily Overholt (West Vancouver, B.C.) and Markus Thormeyer (Tsawwassen, B.C.) of UBC, as well as Evan Van Moerkerke (Tillsonburg, Ont.) of Guelph. Overholt and Thormeyer, a pair of UBC recruits, have committed to join the Thunderbirds swimming program beginning in the fall.

The Canadian Olympic Team is bolstered by 22 current or former coaches and support staff of official CIS sports. Lisa Thomaidis (Saskatoon, Sask.), head coach of the reigning CIS women’s basketball champion Saskatchewan Huskies, will lead the Canadian women’s Olympic basketball squad. Thomaidis captured a pair of gold medals last summer with Team Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, as well as the FIBA Americas Championship.

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games run Aug. 5-21.

For the full list of athletes, click here

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport

Canadian Inter Sport is the national governing body of sport in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four conferences vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:

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