PARIS – Kylie Masse had a fast start but just missed the podium in the 100-metre backstroke while Ilya Kharun advanced to the final of the 200-m butterfly with a brilliant swim at the Paris Olympic Games Tuesday night.
Masse, of Lasalle, Ont., swam a blistering 28.02 seconds to lead after the first 50 metres of her race then finished fourth in 58.29.
“Obviously fourth stings a little bit,” said Masse, who was attempting to become the first woman to ever reach the podium in 100 back at three straight Games. “I just wanted to come in and put together the best race I possibly could. To just try to enjoy the moment and soak it all in.”
Defending Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown took gold in 57.33, breaking the Games record of 57.47 she set in Tokyo. American world record holder Regan Smith was second in 57.66 while her teammate Katharine Berkoff out-touched Masse for third in 57.98.
Ingrid Wilm, who trains at Calgary’s Cascade Swim Club with veteran coach Dave Johnson, was sixth in her first Olympic final in 59.25.
“I know a lot of people thought I’d be done,” after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Games, said the 26-year-old Calgary native. “Just sticking with it, persevering. I am really proud of the work I put in and my coaches who helped me get here.
“It has been challenging.”
Kharun, who was born in Montreal and grew up in in Las Vegas, was fifth after 150 metres of his heat in the 200-fly semifinal. The 19-year-old, who now swims at Arizona State, found another gear to finish second in 1:54.01, giving him the third fastest time heading into Wednesday’s final.
World record holder Kristof Milak of Hungary, the defending Olympic champion and world record holder, led all qualifiers in 1:52.72. Leon Marchand, a crowd favourite at Paris La Défense Arena who swam with Kharun at Arizona State, was second in 1:53.50.
“It’s great to race him,” said Kharun. “It’s a challenge. I was pretty close to him on the final lap.
“He’s a really good friend. He’s a great competitor, someone I look up to. I really want to beat him tomorrow.”
Summer McIntosh has won both of Canada’s swimming medals at the Games. The 17-year-old teenager from Toronto crushed the field to win gold in the 400-m individual medley Monday and collected Canada’s first medal of the Games with a silver in the freestyle on Saturday’s opening day of competition.
Masse, a two-time world champion and former world record holder, took silver in both the 100-m and 200-m backstroke at the Tokyo 2020 Games and bronze in the 100 back at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The 200-backstroke final is Friday.
Wilm said Masse is the backbone of the Canadian team.
“She’s such a positive influence,” said Wilm. “She’s there for everybody. Kylie is an awesome person.”
In other swims, Josh Liendo, a Toronto native who trained at the High Performance Centre – Ontario before spending the last two seasons swimming at the University of Florida in Gainesville, came close to qualifying for the 100-m freestyle finals. His time of 48.06 seconds in the semifinals left him in 11th place, just .12 out of the eighth and final qualifying spot.
Liendo, who holds the Canadian record in the 100-m butterfly, said the race was a learning curve.
“The 100 free is just technique,” he said. “It gives me stuff to work on.
“It’s not a huge deal. I wanted to be in that final, but I still have a lot to learn in that event.”
Maggie Mac Neil of London, Ont., swam 54.16 seconds to clinch the final qualifying time in the morning heats of the 100-m freestyle but decided not to race in the evening semifinals.
Mac Neil, who won the 100 freestyle at last year’s Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, will instead concentrate on the relay races.
The 4×200-m freestyle relay team of Patrick Hussey of Beaconsfield, Que., Alex Axon of Newmarket, Ont., Victoria’s Jeremy Bagshaw and Lorne Wigginton of Calgary, swam 7:12.07 to finish 14th in the preliminaries.
For full results https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/schedule/swimming?day=undefined.
CBC/Radio-Canada is the exclusive Canadian broadcast and streaming home of the Games. In English, CBC’s comprehensive coverage of Paris 2024 will feature live broadcasts on CBC and partner networks TSN and Sportsnet, CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website and the CBC Paris 2024 app for Android and iOS devices. ICI TÉLÉ, ICI TOU.TV and RDS will offer daily French coverage to follow the decisive moments and medals won by Canadian athletes.
The swimming competition runs through Sunday.