The Pan Pacific championships in Irvine, Calif., showcased contrasting performances by Canadian swimmers Taylor Ruck and Summer McIntosh. Ruck secured a silver medal in the women’s 100-metre butterfly and later clinched a bronze as part of the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, marking her fourth and fifth medals of the competition. In the 100m butterfly, the 26-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., achieved a personal-best time of 56.71 seconds, coming in second behind American Gretchen Walsh. Australian Alexandria Perkins claimed the bronze with a time of 56.75.
Ruck expressed her satisfaction with her performance, stating, “I feel like I got good rest between prelims and finals, and did all the things just to try and feel relaxed, and just trust my body was going to do what it did.”
Conversely, McIntosh faced disappointment after failing to qualify for the A final in the women’s 400m freestyle event, despite winning the B final. The 19-year-old from Toronto took full responsibility for the outcome, acknowledging her “misjudgment in this morning’s heats.” She expressed frustration and vowed to learn from the experience.
In the men’s events, Canadians Blake Tierney and Ethan Ekk secured silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 200m backstroke. Tierney finished second with a time of 1:56.29, while Ekk followed closely with a time of 1:56.85. Japan’s Yumeki Kojima claimed the gold medal.
Ruck continued her success by guiding Canada to a bronze medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay event alongside teammates Mary-Sophie Harvey, Leah Tigert, and Leilani Fack. The U.S. team took gold, while Australia claimed silver.
The Canadian men’s 4x100m freestyle team narrowly missed a podium spot, finishing fourth behind the U.S., Australia, and Japan.