Canadian swimmers Taylor Ruck and Summer McIntosh had contrasting results at the Pan Pacific championships in Irvine, California. Ruck secured a silver medal in the women’s 100m butterfly and later claimed a bronze as part of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, marking her fourth and fifth medals of the competition. The 26-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., achieved a personal-best time of 56.71 seconds in the 100m butterfly, finishing behind American Gretchen Walsh. McIntosh, on the other hand, expressed disappointment after failing to qualify for the A final in the women’s 400m freestyle event despite winning the B final. She took responsibility for the misjudgment and vowed to learn from the experience. McIntosh will compete in the 200m IM event on Saturday, where she holds the world-record title.
In other events, Canadians Blake Tierney and Ethan Ekk secured silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 200m backstroke. Tierney, who also won the men’s 100m backstroke, expressed gratitude for his training paying off. The Canadian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team narrowly missed a podium spot, finishing fourth.
The Canadian women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, led by Ruck, clinched a bronze medal, while the U.S. claimed gold. Meanwhile, the Australian team secured silver. The Australian Lani Pallister won the women’s 400m freestyle final, with McIntosh reflecting on her disappointment and vowing to analyze her performance post-competition.
