Toussaint finishes sixth in World Cup final 100-meter backstroke
Kira Toussaint has grabbed next to a medal at the World Championships long track in Budapest. The 28-year-old swimmer finished sixth in the 100-meter backstroke final (59.99). The American Regan Smith won gold (58.22). Canadian title defender Kylie Masse finished second (58.40), just ahead of American Claire Curzan (58.67).
Toussaint won gold in the 50, 100 and 200 meters backstroke at the European Championship short course in Kazan in November last year. She also made it to the 100 back final at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing seventh. At the previous World Championship long track, three years ago in South Korea, she was missing in the final of the 100 meters. Toussaint then swam the final of the 50 meter backstroke.
Toussaint has been training in the United States for the past few months. She actually focused on the European Championship in Rome in August, but surprised herself a bit on Sunday with the fourth time in the semi-finals of the World Cup in the capital of Hungary (59.16). She was unable to approach that time in the final.