Canada wins bronze in women’s 4×200 metre freestyle relay at the 2019 World Aquatics Championship

Penny Oleksiak (Sander Van Ginkel. Wikimedia Commons)

Team Canada won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×200 metre relay at the 2019 World Aquatics Championship in Gwangju on Thursday. The Canadian team comprised of Kayla Sanchez of Scarborough, Ontario, Canadian Olympic bronze medalists Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, British Columbia and Emily Overholt of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Penny Oleksiak of Toronto, Ontario.

Sanchez, Ruck, Overholt and Oleksiak posted a Canadian record third place time of 7:44.35. The Australian team of Ariarne Titmus, Madison Wilson, Brianna Throssell and Emma McKeon won the gold medal in a world record time of 7:41.50. The United States team of Simone Manuel, Katie Ledecky, Melanie Margalis and Katie McLaughlin won the silver medal with a time of 7:41.87.

The Canadians won a medal by 0.87 seconds. China, which were in third place in the first part of the race before Oleksiak had an excellent fourth leg, finished in fourth place with a time of 7:46.22. China in fact had the initial world record of 7:42.08, which was set at the 2009 World Aquatics Championship in Rome.

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Ruck, Oleksiak, and Overholt won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×200 metre freestyle. Ruck and Oleksiak also won the Olympic bronze medal in the women’s 4×100 metre freestyle, while Oleksiak won Olympic gold in the women’s 100 metre freestyle and silver in the women’s 100 metre butterfly.

Canada has now won eight medals at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships (six of which are Olympic events). The medals for Sanchez, Ruck, Overholt and Oleksiak will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

 

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