Kylie Masse was named the 2015-16 female CIS athlete of the year at the 24th annual BLG awards at the Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary.
Masse was selected the winner in part by the Canadian Athletic Foundation and in part by an open online vote for the honor.
Masse beat out Iuliia Pakhomenko from the Thompson Rivers University volleyball team, Mélodie Daoust from the McGill hockey team, and Paloma Anderson from Acadia University’s basketball team for the win.
The University of Toronto swimmer was awarded a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Canadian University graduate school for winning, and along with the other seven nominees (including Andrew Buckley, the male winner), was given a commemorative gold ring from Jostens and a watch from Timex.
Masse had an outstanding season as a sophomore for the Varsity Blues. On the first night of the CIS Championships, Masse won the 50m backstroke in a new long course national record and was a member of Toronto’s winning 4x100m freestyle relay.
In the 100m backstroke Masse dipped under one-minute to break the CIS record with a 59.81 performance and take home her third gold of the meet. She added a silver medal as a member of the 4x200m freestyle relay.
On the final night of competition Masse went on to sweep the backstroke events with a 200m backstroke win, sporting a 2:10.76 at the wall. Following her win, Masse grabbed a silver in the 200m IM and a silver in the 4x100m medley relay.
Prior to the end of the 2015-16 school year, Masse competed successfully at the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials in order to qualify for her first Olympic team.
Masse broke the Canadian record in the prelims of the 100m backstroke with a 59.17 before bettering her time with a 59.06 to re-break the record and solidify her spot on the Olympic team.
With her 59.06 performance, Masse is currently ranked second in the world with less than 100 days until the Rio Olympics.
Masse will be swimming for the University of Toronto next season while continuing to pursue a degree kinesiology.
Masse is only the third female swimmer to win a BLG award following UBC’s Annamay Pierse and Toronto’s Elizabeth Warden.
Congratulations to Kylie. And it’s great for swimming to have that exposure.