Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Sydney Pickrem of Halifax, Nova Scotia won the gold medal on Sunday in the women’s 200 metre individual medley at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Athens, Greece. It was one of four medals won by Canadian swimmers in events with Olympic status. Canadian Olympic silver medalist Kylie Masse of Windsor, Ontario won the silver medal for Canada in the women’s 100 metre backstroke and a bronze in the women’s 200 metre backstroke. Ingrid Wilm of Calgary, Alberta won bronze in the women’s 100 metre backstroke.
In the women’s 200 metre individual medley, Pickrem had a time of 2:09.67. Torri Huske of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 2:11.15. Kaylee McKeown of Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 2:11.23. Pickrem earned a medal by 4.15 seconds. Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 2:13.82.
In the women’s 100 metre backstroke, Masse hd a time of 1:00.10. Wilm had a time of 1:00.57. McKeown won gold with a time of 57.63 seconds. Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 1:01.05. Masse earned a medal by 0.95 seconds and Wilm earned a medal by 0.48 seconds.
In the women’s 200 metre backstroke, Masse had a time of 2:10.77. McKeown won the gold medal with a time of 2:06.02. Katie Grimes of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 2:08.01. Masse earned a medal by 1.81 seconds. Emma Godwin of New Zealand finished in fourth place with a time of 2:12.58.
A week ago at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, Canada came away with four more medals in Olympic events. Masse and Wilm won silver and bronze in the women’s 100 metre backstroke respectively, Masse also won bronze in the women’s 200 metre backstroke, and Pickrem won silver in the women’s 200 metre individual medley.
In the women’s 100 metre backstroke in Berlin, Masse had a time of 1:00.02, and Wilm had a time of 1:00.41. McKeown won the gold medal with a time of 57.95 seconds. Masse reached the podium by 0.59 seconds and Wilm reached the podium by two tenths of a second. Maaike de Waard of the Netherlands finished in fourth place with a time of 1:00.61.
In the women’s 200 metre backstroke in Berlin, Masse had a time of 2:10.32. McKeown won the gold medal with a time of 2:06.47. Grimes won the silver medal with a time of 2:08.08. Masse earned a medal by 2.41 seconds over Eszter Szabo-Feltothy of Hungary, who had a time of 2:12.73.
In the women’s 200 metre individual medley in Berlin, Pickrem had a time of 2:11.27. McKeown had a time of 2:10.76 in winning gold. Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel won the bronze medal with a time of 2:11.71. Pickrem earned a medal by 3.23 seconds over Huske, who finished in fourth place with a time of 2:14.50.
Pickrem won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×100 metre medley at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Masse won the silver medal in the women’s 100 metre and 200 metre backstroke at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. The medals for Pickrem, Wilm and Masse will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
