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Double gold for Oleksiak, sweep for Masse at Swiss swim meet

News –

ZURICH –Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak of Toronto earned three medals, including two gold, and world champ Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., completed a golden sweep of the backstroke events on Sunday to conclude the Einladung Invitational swimming competition.

Oleksiak ended the meet with five medals (three gold and two silver) following three trips to the podium on Sunday with meet records in her two victories.

She easily won the 200-m freestyle in 1:57.79 with Maria Ugolkova of Switzerland second in 2:00.15 and Laura Letrari of Italy third in 2:00.43.

Then she took the 100-m butterfly in 58.05 with Elena Di Liddo of Italy second in 58.11 and Marie Wattel of France third in 58.74. Hannah Genich of Cobourg, Ont., was fourth in 59.43.

Wattel edged Oleksiak in the 50-m freestyle clocking 25.15 to 25.38 for the Canadian.

‘’It was important for me to get some early season confidence and that’s what happened here this weekend,’’ said Oleksiak, who won the 100-m freestyle and was second in the 50 fly on Saturday.

‘’The 100 and 200 freestyle races were definitely the highlight for me. I just felt really comfortable with them.’’

Masse took the women’s 100-m backstroke in a meet record 58.54 seconds for her third gold medal of the competition. Margherita Panziera of Italy was a distant second in 1:01.21 and Kata Burian of Hungary third in 1:01.91.

‘’It’s my last long course races before the Commonwealth Games (in April) so it’s nice to get those wins under my belt,’’ said Masse. ‘’We weren’t over here for long so it was fun see how fast we could go with the effects from the time change. I don’t think I’ve ever gone 58 seconds while in training.’’

On Saturday, Masse also won the 50-m and 200-m backstroke races. Last season she won the 100 back at the world championships becoming Canada’s first female world swimming champion.

Scott McGillivray of Regina was sixth in the men’s 50-m freestyle.

Full results: https://www.imu.ch/live-results