Team Canada won the bronze medal on Sunday in the women’s 4×100 metre freestyle relay at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar. The Canadian team comprised of Rebecca Smith of Red Deer, Alberta, Sarah Fournier of Cochrane, Alberta, Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Quebec, and Canadian Olympic silver medalist Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, British Columbia. Savard won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×200 metre freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Ruck won the silver medal in the women’s 4×100 metre freestyle at the 2020 Olympic Games in 2021.
Smith, Fournier, Savard and Ruck posted a time of 3:37.95. The Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 3:36.61. Australia won the silver medal with a time of 3:36.93. Canada reached the podium by seven tenths of a second over Poland, which had a fourth place time of 3:38.65. Poland set a national record.
This was Canada’s third medal at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, but first in an Olympic event. Jacqueline Simoneau of Montreal, Quebec won the gold medal in the women’s solo free routine and a silver medal in the women’s technical routine in artistic swimming. The medals for Smith, Savard, Fournier, and Ruck will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
