Canadian Kylie Masse wins second gold medal at Italian International

Kylie Masse earned her second gold medal at the Italian International swimming competition on Saturday with a victory in the women’s 100-metre backstroke.

Masse, from Windsor, Ont., clocked 59.66 seconds for the victory. Slovakia’s Katarina Listopadova was second in one minute 00.21 seconds and Italy’s Costa de Saint Zofkova came third in 1:00.70.

The Olympic-bound Masse took the 50 backstroke on Friday in Canadian record time.

“It means so much to win with the Games coming up,” said the 20-year-old Masse. “I’m really seeing a lot of progress thanks to the hard work I’m putting in and I have to continue with making the necessary adjustments.”

Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak added a silver medal in the 100 butterfly, also her second medal of the competition. The 16-year-old Olympic team member clocked 58.41. She was edged out by Italy’s Ilaria Bianchi, who swam a time of 58.36.

“It wasn’t an amazing swim by any stretch,” said Oleksiak, who was third in the 100 freestyle on Friday. “I’m just here to learn and I’m so excited to swim against racers who have a chance to be on the podium in Rio.”

Also Saturday at the Quebec Cup in Montreal, Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., is also having a great tune-up for the Games. She won her third gold medal of the event with a victory in the 50 butterfly and clocked a Canadian record in the preliminaries.

Savard swam a 25.92 in the morning preliminaries, then followed up with a 25.96 in the evening final. That eclipsed the 25.97 national mark set by Oleksiak this past May in Charlotte.

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