Canadian swimmers Taylor Ruck and Summer McIntosh had contrasting results at the Pan Pacific championships in Irvine, Calif. Ruck secured a silver medal in the women’s 100m butterfly and later claimed bronze in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, marking her fourth and fifth medals at the event. Ruck, hailing from Kelowna, B.C., achieved a personal-best time of 56.71 seconds in the 100m butterfly, coming in behind American Gretchen Walsh, who finished first in 55.15. Australian Alexandria Perkins took the bronze with a time of 56.75.
Ruck expressed her satisfaction, stating, “This one [the women’s 100m butterfly] was a lot of fun. I feel like I got good rest between prelims and finals, and did all the things just to try and feel relaxed, and just trust my body was going to do what it did.”
On the other hand, McIntosh faced disappointment after winning the B final of the women’s 400m freestyle event but failing to qualify for the A final as the current world-record holder. McIntosh acknowledged her mistake, saying, “I was very mad at myself and I take full responsibility for missing that A final. It was a complete misjudgment on my part, it’s something that should never happen. I promise that I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. This meet is definitely not going the way I wanted it to go.”
In the men’s competition, Canadians Blake Tierney and Ethan Ekk secured silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 200m backstroke. Tierney finished second with a time of 1:56.29, followed by Ekk at 1:56.85. Japan’s Yumeki Kojima clinched the gold in 1:55.38.
Ruck continued her success by leading Canada to a bronze in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, alongside teammates Mary-Sophie Harvey, Leah Tigert, and Leilani Fack.
The U.S. women’s team claimed gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, with the Canadian men’s team finishing fourth. The U.S., Australia, and Japan secured the top three spots in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
