Canada's Masse, Andison post victories at ISL playoffs; Titans capture 2nd to stay in contention
Mary-Sophie Harvey claims 2nd in 100m IM, Kayla Sanchez places 3rd
Canadians Kylie Masse and Bailey Andison each swam to victory at the third International Swimming League (ISL) playoff match on Friday.
Masse was smooth in the water to win the women's 100-metre backstroke, finishing in a speedy 55.77 seconds. The 25-year-old Olympic silver medallist also jackpotted the points of two swimmers for her team, the Toronto Titans.
"I think I was really just thinking about holding that back end and coming back as strong as I could," she said.
Her win follows up Thursday's victories in the 200-metre and 50-metre backstroke events.
The Toronto Titans managed to end the day in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in second place, ensuring the team still stayed in the ISL playoff fight. Meanwhile, Energy Standard tightened its grip on first throughout Friday, ending with 585 points.
Aqua Centurions placed third (390) and DC Trident ended fourth (383.)
WATCH | Masse triumphs in 100m backstroke:
Andison, swimming for DC Trident, emerged with the win in the women's 400-metre individual medley in 4:26.75. While Toronto's Summer McIntosh had an early lead in the race, it was Andison who pulled away in the water with a push to first place.
McIntosh held on to third (4:28.98), while fellow Canadian and teammate Tess Cieplucha challenged for the top three but ended in fourth (4:29.13).
WATCH | Andison earns victory in 400m IM:
Andison's victory, coupled with the performance of her teammate Zsusanna Jakabos, not only left the Aqua Centurions without points, but amassed a total 26 points for DC Trident.
McIntosh also had a strong start in the women's 200-metre butterfly, touching second at the halfway point, but fell back to fifth place in 2:07.70.
Canadians find the top 3
Canadians continued to shine in the women's 100-metre individual medley, with Mary-Sophie Harvey (Energy Standard) placing second and Kayla Sanchez (Toronto Titans) in third.
Both Harvey and Sanchez improved their standing over the last half of the race, with Harvey touching in 58.24 and Sanchez finishing in 58.38. Meanwhile, Andison was seventh in 59.67.
Sanchez had another third-place swim on Friday in the women's 200-metre freestyle. The 20-year-old touched the wall in 1:54.06, while Hong Kong swimmer Siobhan Haughey posted a blistering time of 1:50.66 to take that victory.
Jackpot woes
Other Canadian results included a fourth-place swim by Rachel Nicol for DC Trident in the women's 100-metre breaststroke, where she posted a time of 1:06.01. Harvey was sixth in 1:06.98 and Kesley Wog, swimming for Toronto, was eighth (1:08.08) and lost her points via jackpot.
Masse also was burned by the jackpot at the meet, with her points stolen after a seventh-place finish (26.17) in the women's 50-metre butterfly.
But she managed to escape that fate as part of a Titans mixed 4x100-metre medley relay, along with Sanchez.
Though Energy Standard was leagues ahead and jackpotted three teams, the Toronto team emerged with points after a fourth-place swim of 3:38.11.
World record in men's 100m breastroke
The day also saw Belarusian swimmer Ilya Shymanovich with a new world record (short course) in the men's 100-metre breaststroke. The Energy Standard athelte had an explosive race to smash his own mark, finishing in 55.32.
"I don't know what happened, but it happened," he laughed afterward.
Toronto Titans' Yuri Kisil was the lone Canadian man competing on Friday. he swam to sixth place in the men's 100-metre freestyle in 47.50. The 26-year-old also competed in men's 50-metre freestyle skins (21.63), but was cut after the first round.
