In Irvine, California, Canadian swimmers Taylor Ruck and Summer McIntosh had contrasting performances at the Pan Pacific championships on Friday night.
Ruck clinched a silver medal in the women’s 100m butterfly and later secured a bronze as part of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, marking her fourth and fifth medals of the competition, respectively. She achieved a personal-best time of 56.71 seconds in the 100m butterfly, finishing behind American Gretchen Walsh, who clocked 55.15 seconds. Australian Alexandria Perkins took the bronze with a time of 56.75 seconds.
Expressing her satisfaction, Ruck mentioned to CBC Sports reporter Devin Heroux that she felt well-rested between prelims and finals, enabling her to trust her body and perform at her best.
On the other hand, McIntosh faced disappointment after winning the B final of the women’s 400m freestyle event. The 19-year-old from Toronto expressed frustration as she failed to qualify for the A final due to a misjudgment during the morning heats, taking full responsibility for the error.
Despite McIntosh’s setback, she managed to secure a silver in the women’s 200m freestyle and a gold in the 400m individual medley. Reflecting on her performance, McIntosh expressed frustration and vowed to analyze her training regime post the competition.
In the men’s 200m backstroke event, Canadians Blake Tierney and Ethan Ekk claimed silver and bronze, respectively. Tierney won the men’s 100m backstroke earlier in the competition, marking his first international gold medal.
Ruck added to her medal tally by guiding Canada to a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay event alongside her teammates. The U.S. secured gold in the event, with Australia taking silver.
The Canadian men’s 4x100m freestyle team narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth behind the U.S., Australia, and Japan.