Masse swimmer12/29/2023 ![]() “It’s such a key characteristic to have is to be adaptable, because getting worked up about things that aren’t going as planned isn’t going to do anything,” she says. It’s just another example of Masse rolling with the challenges that come her way, whether in the pool, as a full-time student at U of T, or elsewhere in life. She also picked up a silver there during a downpour in the 50-m distance, usually not her specialty. What made that winning time more impressive was that the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre is outside, normally a disadvantage for backstrokers used to looking at lines on a ceiling. I’m still kind of playing with different ways of swimming it I guess.” ![]() “It’s kind of a game of going out fast and hanging on, or going out a bit more controlled and coming back faster. “I say I’m still learning it because I have a hard time putting it together,” she says. How long can she say she’s “still learning” the longer distance? In addition to the two wins in the 100, Masse’s golden time of 2:05.98 in the 200 at Commonwealth Games just happens to stand as the No. You just have to swim, so just trust yourself,” she says. You can’t change anything if you’re already at the meet. “I think the most important thing is, whatever you think isn’t going to change anything. But for some reason as soon as I was the world record holder I felt I had to be winning at every meet I went to, always be on my game.”Īlthough that extra mental weight sat on her shoulders in the days before big races, in the moments before she was able to clear her mind and focus on the task at hand. “I know it’s not realistic to be going best times every single meet I’m the first person to tell myself that. Things were different and I had to learn how to deal with that,” Masse says. “Your thoughts sometimes get in your head and I found I had to really try and mentally get myself ready to race. “It’s not easy and she makes it look easy.”Įntering the year as the favourite brought with it new levels of expectations, pressure and media attention. ![]() ![]() Three major games in a row with worlds 2017, Commonwealth and then Pan Pacs. It was a hard double with two major Games in the same year, let alone three or four months apart,” Kiefer says. I didn’t get the world record, but I won gold, so I was really happy with that and proud of myself I was able to do that after a long year.” It was special to me to have my world record broken and then to win gold at Pan Pacs. “I’m really proud to have come out on top at the end of summer as well as at Commonwealths. It was constant, which is what sport is and I love it but it was definitely exhausting,” Masse says. “I did find it hard and difficult to have both (Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs). While she wasn’t thrilled with the time of 58.61, when she saw the “1” beside her name, she felt relief at the end of a long year of training and competition. Unfazed, Masse took on Baker, Australian backstroke legend Emily Seebohm, and others in the final. At the American Pan Pac trials, however, Olympic silver medallist Kathleen Baker shaved a tenth of a second off Masse’s 2017 time of 58.10. Most importantly, she won when it counted, taking her signature 100-m backstroke over top competitors from Australia, Japan and the USA, and earning the honour of female swimmer of the championships at Pan Pacs.Īlready the Olympic bronze medallist, Masse entered 2018 as world champion and world record holder in the 100 back. Based on her performance at the Commonwealth Games, Masse also received the 2018 Canadian Commonwealth Excellence Award. The award recognizes the backstroker’s accomplishments throughout the year: including two gold medals (and two silver) in April at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, and gold at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo in August.
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