Taylor Ruck
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Taylor Madison Ruck[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |
 Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
May 28, 2000 (age 16) [2][3]Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada[4][5][6] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) (2016)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | backstroke, freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Scottsdale Aquatic Club[7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Kevin Zacher[7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Taylor Ruck (born May 28, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. She won two Olympic bronze medals as part of Canada's women's 4×100 metre and 4×200 metre freestyle relay teams at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ruck previously won six medals at the 2015 World Junior Swimming Championships including three gold in the 100 free, 200 free, and 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay.
Career
Ruck won the gold medal in the 100 meter freestyle at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Singapore, breaking the Championships record in both the heats and the final.[8] She also won the 200 meter freestyle, again in a championship record.[9] She would add a bronze medal in the 200 backstroke, as well as three relay a medals a gold in the mixed 4 × 100 m free, silver in the 4×200 m free, and a bronze in the women's 4×100 m freestyle event.
2016 Summer Olympics
Ruck was suffering from bronchitis during the trials for Canada's Olympic team and did not initially qualify, but officials took their illness into account and named her to the team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10][11]
There, as a sixteen year old Olympian, she swam the last leg in the heats and the second last leg of the finals in the women's 4×100 m relay final for Canada. Ruck competed with Penny Oleksiak, Chantal van Landeghem, Sandrine Mainville, and Michelle Williams and swam to a bronze medal, behind Australia and the United States. After the win Ruck said of "I’m definitely not one to cry easily but I was about to...I feel 110 per cent Canadian now!"[12] The medal was the first Canadian women's freestyle relay medal at the Olympics in 40 years.[12] She became the first athlete born in the 2000s to win an Olympic medal along with fellow Canadian swimmer and relay partner Penny Oleksiak.[13]
Ruck then won her second bronze medal as a part of the 4×200 metres freestyle relay team. She swam in second spot in the heats alongside Katerine Savard, Emily Overholt and Kennedy Goss, and second again in the final event, with Brittany MacLean and Oleksiak replacing Overholt and Goss. She last competed in the 4×100 metres medley, swimming the anchor leg in the trials before being replaced for the finals, where the Canadian team placed fifth.[14]
Personal life
Ruck's family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S., before she was one year old. She does not hold American citizenship and continues to spend time in Canada while visiting family in Kelowna, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.[4] She attends Chaparral High School in Scottsdale.
References
- 1 2 "Taylor Madison Ruck". Rio 2016 Organization. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ↑ "Young local swim stars Ryan Hoffer, Taylor Ruck making big waves". azcentral.com The Arizona Republic. April 19, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ↑ "Women's 100m Freestyle Final Start List". Omega Timing. August 27, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- 1 2 "Taylor Ruck Will Swim At Canadian World Championship Trials In April". SwimSwam. January 26, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ↑ "Taylor Ruck, Canadian swimmer, wins 2 gold, bronze at FINA worlds". CBC Sports. August 27, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
- ↑ "Kelowna's Taylor Ruck wins gold at world junior swim championships". The Daily Courier. August 31, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
- 1 2 "Taylor Ruck Rushes Inside 54 In 100 Free Heats As One Of Swiftest 15s Ever". SwimVortex. August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ↑ "Taylor Ruck Wins 100m Freestyle In Championship Record Timing". SwimSwam. August 27, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ↑ "Taylor Ruck Tracks Down 200 Free Meet Record at 2015 FINA World Junior Championships". Swimming World Magazine. August 30, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
- ↑ "Olympic Team Nominated for Rio 2016". Swimming Canada. Swimming Canada. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Taylor Ruck, 16, Playing A Huge Role in Team Canada's Olympic Ruckus". Swimming World. Swimming World Magazine. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
- 1 2 Jonathon Gatehouse (August 6, 2016). "The Young and the Fast: Canada wins relay bronze in Rio". Maclean's.
- ↑ Sutherland, James (August 9, 2016). "Canadian Oleksiak, Ruck first ever Olympic medalists born in 2000s". Swimswam. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Taylor Ruck, 16, Playing A Huge Role in Team Canada's Olympic Ruckus". Swimming World. Swimming World Magazine. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.