LaSalle's Kylie Masse has been named the top overall female swimmer at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo.
The championships wrapped up on Sunday. Masse was named the top female swimmer for her golden performance on Friday in the 100-metre backstroke. Masse ended with a time of 58.61, which earned her a gold medal.
“It’s been a long year with a lot of racing, but I’ve taken a lot of things out of it -- especially from the mental challenges I’ve faced,” says Masse in a press release. “Coming off of last summer and having a world record was a different, not mindset, but just different things in my head. I was facing some pressures, a lot of different media opportunities, which is awesome and all great to do and I love doing it, but it was more things added to my plate."
Meanwhile, Masse also took part in the relay portion of the event. The Candian team ended with a time of 3:55.14. However, Australia took gold in the relay, posting a time of 3:52.74. According to a press release, Canada's time was just 28 seconds shy of beating a previous Canadian record set at last year’s world championships.
“To come that close is exciting. We just tried to give it our all,” says Masse.
Fellow competitor, Taylor Ruck set a new record for medals by a Canadian. Ruck took silver in the women's 200-metre backstroke for her fifth medal of the championships.
"She broke a seven-way tie to become the first Canadian to ever win five medals at Pan Pacs," as stated in a media release.