CIS Takes Rio: 13 Canadian athletes reach the podium in first week Aug. 16, 2016 RIO DE JANEIRO (CIS) – Thirteen current, former or incoming CIS student-athletes have won medals for Canada at the halfway point of the Rio 2016 Olympics. Five of the 13 athletes – CIS Female Athlete of the Year and Toronto’s Kylie Masse, Montreal’s Sandrine Mainville and Katerine Savard, along with UBC’s Emily Overholt and Victoria’s Hilary Caldwell – earned bronze in swimming, while eight others helped Canada finish third in the inaugural Olympic rugby sevens competition. Masse (100-metre backstroke), Mainville (4x100-metre freestyle relay), Caldwell (200-metre backstroke) and rugby sevens player Natasha Watcham-Roy all achieved their Olympic success after reaching the podium at a previous Summer Universiade in the same events. Masse won gold at the 2015 Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea; Mainville, Savard and Watcham-Roy combined for four medals at the 2013 FISU Games in Kazan, Russia and Caldwell captured bronze at the 2011 Universiade in Shenzhen, China. Two additional former Universiade athletes – swimmer Brittany MacLean and diver Roseline Filion – have also won bronze medals, in the synchronized 10-metre platform and 4x200-metre freestyle relay in Rio. A total of 81 current, former or future CIS student-athletes are competing at the 2016 Summer Games. The Rio Olympics continue until Aug. 21. CIS Takes Rio Medalists (as of Aug. 15) Sport Name University Event Medal Universiade (Time/Result) Swimming Hilary Caldwell Victoria 200m backstroke Bronze Silver (2:07.54) Shenzhen 2011 Sandrine Mainville Montreal 4x100m freestyle Bronze Bronze relay (3:32.89) Kazan 2013 Kylie Masse* Toronto 100m backstroke Bronze Gold (58.76) Gwangju 2015 Brittany MacLean Georgia 4x200m freestyle Bronze Kazan 2013 relay (7:45.39) Emily Overholt* UBC 4x200m freestyle Bronze - relay (7:45.39) Katerine Savard Montreal 4x200m freestyle Bronze Gold, Silver relay (7:45.39) Kazan 2013 Diving Roseline Filion Montreal Synchronized 10- Bronze Bangkok 2007 metre platform Rugby Britt Benn Guelph Bronze Medal Bronze - Sevens Bianca Farella Concordia Game vs. Great - Ghislaine Landry StFX Britain - Kayla Moleschi Lethbridge (W 33-10) - Karen Paquin Laval - Kelly Russell Western - Ashley Steacy Lethbridge - Natasha Watcham-Roy Ottawa Bronze Kazan 2013 *Current/Incoming CIS athlete About Canadian Interuniversity Sport Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four conferences vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on: Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CIS_SIC Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cissports YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/universitysport Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/CIS_SIC -CIS- For further information, please contact: Alan Hudes Coordinator, Communications Canadian Interuniversity Sport Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242 Cell: 647-991-5343 [email protected] Pat Park Communications Canadian Interuniversity Sport Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 241 [email protected] .