Kylie Masse Interview
As we near the end of the Summer that wasn't Tokyo 2020, we have our first ever swimmer to talk to today as we chat Kylie Masse Canada's Olympic Bronze Medallist from the 100 metre backstroke. We talk to Kylie about how she broke into the competitive swimming, her medal win in Rio, and her massive success at the 2017 World Championships. We also get her answers to the famous "My Name Is" questionnaire.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
COLIN HILDING: Welcome back to Off The Podium for the next interview in our series of Olympians, past, present, future, as we carry you through the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that never was, that will eventually be 2021. And we've been able to discuss things with Olympic athletes from Winter Olympics, from past Summer Olympics, several who were even supposed to be competing in 2020 this year. And this one as well would have, we assume, been competing in Tokyo 2020 right now if it had not been for a little pandemic called COVID-19. But we're still hopeful that she will be there next year in 2021. We're talking to Kylie Masse, the Olympic bronze medallist from the 2016 Rio Games in the 100m backstroke. Backstroke, which has quickly become her specialty. And even though she had the Olympic shining moment, we get to talk to her about what really I think was her coming out party, which was the World Championships in 2017. She's the reigning world champion now and Canadian record holder. And she's really just emerged from Rio until now as being maybe arguably the star of the Canadian swimming team. And we get to cover everything from her early competitions, through the Rio Olympics, through the Commonwealth Games, the World Championships, and then all of her thoughts on the postponement of Tokyo as well. As well, you can listen through to them because we're going to get to go over her My Name Is survey, which we do with all the athletes for something that Team Canada has done. And we assume would have been doing right now, but we get to beat them to the punch here. So enjoy our interview here with Olympic bronze medallist from Rio, Kylie Masse.
COLIN HILDING: So we've been bringing you interviews with athletic stars and medallists. We've been bringing you new sports like sports climbing. We bring you classic winter athletes like John Montgomery, Jamie Soleil. And today we get to break new ground because we're joined by our first ever swimmer on Off The Podium, which is really exciting because always good to break into a new sport here. Today we're joined by Kylie Masse, who's the bronze medallist in the 100 metre backstroke from Rio, is that right?
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah.
COLIN HILDING: Thanks so much for being here today, Kylie.
KYLIE MASSE: Hello. Thank you for having me.
COLIN HILDING: I'm actually really excited every time we do get to do new sports. And what's interesting is that we typically start off these interviews with a generic question of how did you break into the sport? But my guess is, you broke into the sport like most people did, just swimming as a child. So I guess a more appropriate question would be, how did you break into competitive swimming?
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah, I actually, like you said, just started swimming lessons. I was a part of a summer swimming league in my town with my siblings. And I honestly just really enjoyed being in the water. I liked swimming. And at that time, it wasn't necessarily swimming. I was quite young. I think it was more just flashing around and playing in the water. But I really enjoyed it. And I wanted to continue to do it throughout the year and not just in the summer. And that's when I joined the local club in my area, the local competitive club, which was the Winter Essex Swim Team. And I was around 10 years old when I did that.
COLIN HILDING: So 10 years old when you start doing it more competitively. And I'm going to guess there's a few steps before it takes you to Rio. But where would you say the first real success was where you figured, okay, I can actually make a career out of this. I could potentially even be in the Olympics.
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah, I would say I definitely grew a lot later, and I saw my success a lot later than even some of my teammates and some of my friends growing up. And I think what kept me in the sport was just the social aspect, and I loved the group of swimmers in my club team that I grew up with. And I honestly just loved being in the water, and I loved the sport, so I continued to do it. But I didn't really see any success until a lot later in high school. And I think the meat that really kind of catapulted my career and where I kind of realised and gained a lot of confidence in myself for the summer was at the 2015 CSU Games, which was after my first year of university at the University of Toronto. I was a member of the CSU Games team, and I won gold there in the 100 backstroke. And at that meet, I think it was when I realised maybe just my potential and what I was capable of. And I think that meet really just gave me a lot of confidence as a swimmer, a lot of confidence in my stroke and my abilities. And I think that really set me up well for 2016 and the future years after that.
COLIN HILDING: We talked with a couple of the sprinters over the last couple of weeks. And one of the most interesting things we found with that was, you start out running, but then you find what distance you're going to specialise in. In the case of a swimmer, it's not just distance, but it's also the stroke. So you specialise in the backstroke. How does that come about? Is it something where your coaches decide, this is where you're good, or is it based on your time and your trials?
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah, so growing up, at my club at least, my coaches basically had us swim anything and everything. So I honestly did the majority of races growing up, and I'm really grateful for that, because I think it really allowed me to develop such a strong foundation of technique for all the strokes, and really just a great feel for the water. And I think that's been really important and crucial in my development and career as a swimmer, was just having that great foundation of technique and feel for the water growing up. So I really didn't specialise when I was younger, and it wasn't until my first year of university, I would say, where I focused more on backstroke. And it was once I made that Feesie Games team at our trials in April, did I kind of realise maybe backstroke was my stroke. And before that, I was swimming fly, and I am as well, and freestyle. I continued to swim those events in the varsity competition after that, and for years after that. But internationally, I stuck to just backstroke.
COLIN HILDING: Are you going to be a Michael Phelps where you decide, you know what, I've had so much success in backstroke now, you know, let me attempt one of the others, or do you just want to sort of focus just on the backstroke going forward?
KYLIE MASSE: I think backstroke moving forward, definitely short term right now. I think, you know, it really hasn't been that long that I've been specializing in backstroke, so I feel like there's so many things I can still improve on and perfect and be a lot better at, which is really exciting and motivating for me. But I do love variety, and I love training freestyle, fly. I have a little bit of an injury in my knee, so I can't do breaststroke anymore, so IM is off the table, but I did love racing that while I could do that a couple years ago. But yeah, for the short term, I think I'll stick to backstroke, but I'm not opposed to kind of experimenting with other strokes as well.
COLIN HILDING: It's crazy that you're saying that, like, your first real international success was in 2015 because it was only a year later when you're in Rio. And just as a viewer, you know, watching for can, I mean, all sports seem to go in cycles when it comes to the Olympics. You know, you'll have huge success. Like, I don't even know if you're old enough to remember Mark Tewksbury, you know, in the 90s. But then following that, it just seemed to be there's a bit of a lull. And then Rio explodes, particularly with the female swimmers. And I think you in particular, it was almost like a surprise when you ended up winning the bronze. Like, did you have any aspirations going in where you thought, okay, I could actually medal here, or did it even catch you off guard?
KYLIE MASSE: It caught me off guard. I actually had a bet going into Rio with my coach, Byron McDonald, and we had a bet to see if I could beat the place he placed at the Olympics, which I think it was fifth. It was either 56, I'm pretty sure it was fifth. But yeah, so I, you know, I think my coaches had more confidence in me than I had in myself, but I think it came as a surprise to all of us just that it was obviously a goal and a dream to be on the Olympic podium, but I don't think I had imagined it coming that soon. And in hindsight, looking back, I think that 2015 performance, and that's why I speak so highly of that performance in 2015 because I think it really just gave me so much confidence and confidence in my stroke and confidence in myself and just my persona on the pool deck. That's so important is just believing in yourself and believing in your abilities. I think that really helped me going into 2016, but I was as surprised as probably most people were with my results there.
COLIN HILDING: And it was insane the amount of success that Canada achieved as a whole in the pool in 2016. What was it like to be part of that, not just for you, but for the entire team to know, not only are you going to be remembered as, OK, I was a bronze medallist and 100 metre backstroke, but that you were part of what's probably going to go down in history as one of the most groundbreaking performances across the board in a single sport.
KYLIE MASSE: It was so incredible and it was so special to be a part of. And I think when you're in that bubble and when you're kind of surrounded by each other, you don't really know how impactful it has been until you kind of escape from that bubble and you see other people and you hear the media and you hear these questions being asked. It really felt normal around, like on the pool deck and amongst those, like our Canadian team with the success that we had. I think it made the results so achievable for so many people, just seeing one another be able to achieve podium finishes and successes, I think. You know, for me in my own story, like I watched Penny win a medal like right before I was about to swim. So, you know, seeing her win a medal was like insane. And it really inspired me to like, you know, she can do it, like I can do it kind of attitude. And I think that, you know, that was the whole kind of vibe for our whole team. It's really just building off of each other's, you know, performances and motivating each other, empowering each other to really just stick in your own lane and just give it your all and to see what you could do and to never doubt yourself because you never know. Sometimes rankings don't mean anything in the end.
COLIN HILDING: And I like to hear that too because, again, we're coming off of a couple of the sprinters that we've talked to. You know, they were all part of like the 4x100 relay that won. And it's the same story we're getting. It's like, you know, you have this success with Andre Degrasse. So all of a sudden, Brendan Rodney is having this success. And just to hear that, you know, you guys can view each other as a team, and it's probably a benefit of having so many different athletes in a single sport where you have that. You know, if we flash forward, I mean, coming off of Rio, you'd won the bronze medal, but it almost was eclipsed by, you know, the fact that Penny Oleksiak had won pretty much everything, it seemed, in Rio. And you flash forward a year later, and I think, you know, most Canadians, we were actually covering it for our show here, the World Championships, a year later. And the big topic was, you know, hey, Kylie Masse came out of nowhere. Like, she's the new star of this sport. I mean, that was like, as much as I'm sure it was satisfying to, you know, win that bronze in Rio a year later, you're now on the top of the world, and you're, you know, I guess the first Canadian, I believe, to ever win a gold in the World Championships for swimming, which is insane, and competing against the Iron Lady, you know, pretty much the number one swimmer, you know, female swimmer in the world for like a decade to come. What were your experiences at the World Championship, and what really changed going from the Games, and what did you learn from that to make you achieve as much success as you did when you got to the Worlds next year?
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah, I think just continuing on that confidence in myself and my abilities and knowing that I belonged on the international stage was something, you know, psychologically that was important to me. And then obviously just continuing my hard training. And I think before 2015, 2016, I was obviously training hard, but I didn't really have a concept of my own times and my own abilities. And, you know, once I saw some of those faster times, you know, once I put up some of those faster times myself, I kind of gained more of an understanding of what I was capable of and what more I wanted and how much faster I wanted. And so, yeah, just continuing to develop my stroke and work a lot more on backstroke and pace and speed as well as endurance. And I think for me going into 2017, it was just important to keep my head down and not let external pressures or thoughts kind of get to me because there was quite a surrounding, I don't know the word, just I guess pressure just from Rio going into 2017. And then I had posted a fast time at our trials to make our world championship team. So going into world championships themselves, it was quite overwhelming. And obviously racing Katinka in her home pool was incredible. And yeah, it seems like a blur now so long ago, but I think just my development through the years and learning more about myself and how I can continue to get better and continue to stay positive and just mindful in my own lane and focusing on myself are things that have been really important to me over the last couple of years.
COLIN HILDING: And you actually beat Katinka Hosea, you beat the Iron Lady in those heats, and then you put up an even faster time in the semis and you break your own record in the finals. When you're going from the heats to the semis to the finals, you know, were you feeling pressure like, oh, now I got to top this or was it like, was it giving the adrenaline? Okay, look what I did in the heats. Now let me do the semis and then just get even better and better with each round.
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah, I think a bit of both. I, you know, I was told by coaches and I knew in the back of my head, it was a three-step process. And, you know, I needed to do the heats and then do the semifinals before I could even get to the finals. So I was trying not to think about, you know, the final, but that was obviously my goal. And yeah, I think it's just a combination of, you know, knowing your goal and knowing what you want to achieve, but also not getting too caught up in it. And just focusing on yourself and not getting too caught up in the environment and you know, what's going on around you.
COLIN HILDING: And now obviously we would be in Tokyo right now, if it wasn't for some other circumstances. And Canada, of course, was the first nation to even pull out of Tokyo. But do you have any thoughts you wanted to share on the postponement of this? You know, is it a good thing? Are you one of these athletes where you're like, okay, now I got an extra year to prepare for this? Or is it something where you think, okay, is this something that could potentially set me back for a whole year, wait?
KYLIE MASSE: No, I'm definitely looking at it as another year to get better and just so much more time to continue to improve and perfect my stroke and develop to be a faster and better swimmer. And, you know, obviously it is disappointing. And I think throughout this whole period, I've just tried to keep a positive outlook and find those silver linings. I know the pandemic is obviously way bigger than sport and so much more important. So finding those silver linings and realising that the whole world has been impacted by this. And whether you're an athlete or you're working in an office or you're a teacher, like every single person in the entire world has been affected by this and have had to readjust their schedules and their routines and lifestyles. So yes, it was disappointing just knowing that we had worked, you know, what we had worked for and planned for for so long was going to be moved. But at the same time, I'm super ecstatic to have another year to train and to get better.
COLIN HILDING: And I mean, we're obviously gonna be waiting for 2021 and you know, you're gonna be one of the, I guess the top stars going into it. To give you something to look forward to here, final set of questions we have, we actually take this from the Team Canada website. So I don't even think you got to do this in Rio, but Team Canada website had all the athletes or a lot of the athletes fill out this questionnaire in their own handwriting, and some of it involves drawing pictures and everything. So you're gonna be the second athlete we've been able to interview on here, who we're sure will get to fill this out, you know, next year when you get to do this. I'm gonna be using Emily Overholt's base here with her. She's got some pretty epic answers, so no pressure, but...
KYLIE MASSE: Oh, no.
COLIN HILDING: I'll kind of go through a few of these here with you. So your answer, who would be the greatest Olympian of all time?
KYLIE MASSE: Oh, man.
COLIN HILDING: Feel free to say yourself, too.
KYLIE MASSE: Michael Phelps.
COLIN HILDING: Michael Phelps. You're in the right sport. This is the right answer.
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah.
COLIN HILDING: First Olympics you remember watching. This might make me feel old. Okay, I do feel old, because mine was Mark Tewkesbury in 92. But 2008, hey, there's good games. I'm going to skip the draw a picture of yourself, because you can't do that on the air. Your favourite ice cream flavour is?
KYLIE MASSE: Cookie dough.
COLIN HILDING: Cookie dough. Nice. Now, this is a fun question. So in your sport, you actually may get the luxury of this, because they have the big grand entrances now for the swimmers. So if you were a baseball player, what would your walk-up music be? Now, in this case, when you're out there in Tokyo and you're entering, what would be your ideal music playing for your entrance?
KYLIE MASSE: Ideal music genre, I would say, like rap, something really upbeat and kind of loud and in your face.
COLIN HILDING: Thump up. Here's a good one. In a movie about your life, who would play you? I have an answer for this, but I'm interested to hear yours.
KYLIE MASSE: I honestly have no idea. I'm terrible with actresses and movies, so...
COLIN HILDING: I'm going to give you the answer that you can answer next year. You have a striking resemblance to Emmy Rossum, who is on the TV show Shameless, and she was in the Phantom of the Opera movie. So next year, answer that, and that will be your high five to Off The Podium. Hey, I'm giving your answer here.
KYLIE MASSE: Perfect.
COLIN HILDING: The most recent TV show you binge watched is? Sorry, what was that?
KYLIE MASSE: Selling Sunsets.
COLIN HILDING: I don't even think I've heard of that. Is it on Netflix?
KYLIE MASSE: Yeah, the second season just came out.
COLIN HILDING: Okay, I'm going to check it out, and then I'll give you the answer in 2021 if it's any good. The biggest fear in life that you have is?
KYLIE MASSE: Biggest fear is... This probably sounds silly, but I'm claustrophobic and I have a large fear of getting stuck in an elevator.
COLIN HILDING: Trust me, it's no sillier than Emily Overholt, whose biggest fear was waking up with a spider on her face. Last question, another kind of fun one. I can't live without... What can you not live without? Food? That's a real answer. That's a literal answer. Again, so great to have you on here. I think all the way back to the World Championships, we got to get Kylie Masse on the show. You really are probably emerging as the face of swimming in Canada now. So we're excited to see what you can do in Tokyo 2021. And so excited to be here to talk to us today.
KYLIE MASSE: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
COLIN HILDING: Thank you again to Kylie Masse and to her people for setting up this interview. And at this point, we're nearing the end of the summer. And we said at the beginning of the summer when we interviewed John Montgomery way back when, that we were gonna carry you through the entire summer with a series of Olympic interviews. And we've sort of come to the end of it. This is the last one officially we have for now. Although I will say we do have more interviews lined up. It's just, we're probably gonna be looking at a couple of weeks downtime into them. We got one really exciting one, which I won't spoil right now, which is another winter athlete, come next month. But we don't have a firm interview lined up for whatever's going to be next week, although there are more coming up. So stay tuned and as always, as always continue to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter. We are on Twitter. We've only been on Twitter for the last couple of weeks. Make sure to like us on Twitter and subscribe to the show. We will be back shortly with more Olympic interviews and then eventually 2021, more recaps of the Olympic Games.
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