Women’s Swimming News

Yuri Kisil from the UBC Thunderbirds and Kylie Masse of the Toronto Varsity Blues are the U SPORTS Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Feb. 25, 2018.

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Masse showcased her elite talents in the pool once again this weekend, competing at the U SPORTS Championships in familiar U of T surroundings. For all of her national successes, Masse was named the 2018 U SPORTS Female Swimmer of the Year for the third straight season, leading the Varsity Blues to a silver-medal team finish at the national championships this past weekend. The 2017 world champion and world record holder in the 100m backstroke won four individual gold medals, breaking the U SPORTS record in all four and the Canadian short course record in the 50m backstroke, while also adding one more gold and two silver medals in the relay events.

Masse, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from LaSalle, Ont., swept the backstroke events for the third consecutive U SPORTS Championships, while also winning the 100m butterfly. She led off Toronto's winning 4x100m medley relay team, which set a new Canadian club record, while also helping the Blues to silver-medal finishes in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays.

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With a spectacular U SPORTS national championship, Kisil finished with five gold medals and a silver while claiming his second straight Swimmer of the Year award. The third-year swimmer from Calgary started the meet with a bang winning gold as part of the 4x100m freestyle relay while also taking silver in the 200m free. Friday was a double gold medal day for Kisil as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay while also winning the 50m freestyle in a U SPORTS record time of 21.50. Saturday was a second straight double golden day for Kisil who won with UBC’s 4x100m medley relay as well as the 100m freestyle which secure him his second straight Sprinter’s Cup title. Kisil went a long way to helping the T-Birds claim their second straight national banner and third in the last four years.

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Male nominees: 

  • CW: Yuri Kisil, swimming, UBC (winner)
  • OUA: Tommy Land, track and field, Guelph
  • RSEQ: Samuel Wang, swimming, McGill,
  • AUS: Audley Cummings, track and field, Dalhousie 

Female nominees:

  • CW: Julianne Labache, track and field, Saskatchewan
  • OUA: Kylie Masse, swimming, Toronto (winner)
  • RSEQ: Sandrine Mainville, swimming, Montreal
  • AUS: Michelle Reddy, track and field, Dalhousie

- Player bios courtesy U SPORTS member conferences