Canadian Olympic silver medalist Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, British Columbia won the gold medal in the women’s 200 metre backstroke at a Women’s Short Course Swimming World Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Saturday. This was Ruck’s second career gold medal in a swimming World Cup. She previously placed first in the women’s 200 metre backstroke at a Women’s Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany on October 13, 2019.
In thew women’s 200 metre backstroke, Ruck had a winning time of 2:02.41. Anna Peplowski of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 2:02.71. Waka Kobori of Japan won the bronze medal with a time of 2:06.99. Ruck reached the podium by 5.5 seconds. Fellow Canadian Brooklyn Douthwright of Riverview, New Brunswick finished in fourth place with a time of 2:07.91.
Ruck won three medals in Uzbekistan. She also won silver in the women’s 50 metre freestyle and silver in the women’s 100 metre backstroke. Ruck’s Olympic medal came in the women’s 4×100 metre freestyle at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
In the women’s 50 metre freestyle on Thursday, Ruck had a second place time of 23.68 seconds. Katarzyna Wasick of Poland won the gold medal with a time of 23.63 seconds. Daria Klepikova of Russia won the bronze medal with a time of 23.94 seconds. Ruck reached the podium by 0.44 seconds. Yichun Wang of China finished in fourth place with a time of 24.12 seconds.
In the women’s 100 metre backstroke on Friday, Ruck had a second place time of 56.38 seconds. Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a time of 55.32 seconds. Peplowski won the bronze medal with a time of 57.37 seconds. Ruck reached the podium by 1.6 seconds. Alina Gaifutdinova of Russia finished in fourth place with a time of 57.98 seconds.
On the men’s side, Canadians won four medals. Blake Tierney of Mississauga, Ontario won silver in the men’s 200 metre backstroke, while Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alberta won bronze in the men’s 100 metre butterfly, bronze in the men’s 100 metre medley, and bronze in the men’s 200 metre medley.
In the men’s 200 metre backstroke on Thursday, Tierney had a second place time of 1:50.56. Pieter Coetze of South Africa won the gold medal with a time of 1:49.32. Jan Cejka of the Czech Republic won the bronze medal with a time of 1:50.59. Tierney reached the podium by 0.23 seconds over Pavel Samusenko of Russia, who was in fourth place with a time of 1:50.79.
In the men’s 100 metre butterfly on Thursday, Knox had a third place time of 50.42 seconds. Juner Chen of China won the gold medal with a time of 49.75 seconds. So Ogata of Japan won the silver medal with a time of 50.1 seconds. Knox reached the podium by one one hundredth of a second. Andrei Minakov of Russia was in fourth place with a time of 50.43 seconds.
In the men’s 100 metre medley on Thursday, Knox had a third place time of 51.65 seconds. Luke Barr of the United States won the gold medal with a time of 51.05 seconds. Shaine Casas of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 51.59 seconds. Knox reached the podium by six one-hundredths of a second over Coetze, who had a time of 51.71 seconds.
In the men’s 200 metre medley on Friday, Knox had a third place time of 1:52.33. Casas won the gold medal with time of 1:51.81. Carson Foster of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 1:52.51. Knox reached the podium by two tenths of a second. Alberto Razzetti of Italy finished in fourth place with a time of 1:52.53. The medals for Knox, Ruck and Tierney will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
