Taylor Ruck and Blake Tierney swim to silvers, Ethan Ekk claims bronze for first career international medal, Canadian women add relay bronze

IRVINE, Calif.—Canada’s swimmers delivered a four-medal haul Friday at the Pan Pacific Championships, with Taylor Ruck powering to silver in the women’s 100-metre butterfly and helping Canada to relay bronze, while Blake Tierney and Ethan Ekk added silver and bronze respectively in the men’s backstroke.

Taylor Ruck rocketed to the silver medal in the women’s 100-metre butterfly while setting another personal best time.

The 26-year-old from Kelowna, B.C. touched the wall in 56.71 seconds, lowering the personal best of 57.46 she established in the morning’s preliminary heats. The performance earned Ruck her fourth medal of the outdoor meet in Irvine, California.

“This one was a lot of fun. I had a good rest between prelims and finals. Did all the things to feel relaxed and trust that my body would do what it did,” said Ruck, who took good vibes from a Canada goose flying over the stadium just prior to jumping onto the start block.

American Gretchen Walsh captured the gold medal in a Pan Pacific Championship-recordtimeof 55.15, while Australia’s Alexandria Perkins finished third in 56.75, just four hundredths behind Ruck.

“These girls are definitely giants (of our sport). I tried not to think about that too much and just see what happens when we get to the race,” added Ruck. “I just focused on having a really good time and a good competition.”

Ruck has been a rocket in the water throughout the summer, carrying the momentum from the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials last month where she dominated the competition with five victoriesto earn her place on Team Canada for the Pan Pacific Championships.

The four-time Olympic medallist opened the meet under the California sun by rewriting the Canadian record books in the 50-metre butterfly, setting the stage for a triple-podium opening night with three bronze medals at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

Saskatoon’s Blake Tierney is also enjoying quite a week in Southern California.

The 24-year-old Olympian added a second medal of the week on Friday, powering to silver in the men’s 200-metre backstroke in a time of 1:56.29.

Tierney delivered a breakthrough performance earlier in the meet, winning his first international gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke on Wednesday.

Japan’s Yumeki Kojima captured Friday’s 200-metre backstroke title in 1:55.38, while Tierney’s Canadian teammate, Ethan Ekk, earned his first international podium, taking bronze in 1:56.85.

“I had good time this morning that I was happy about. I just wanted to get my hand on the podium so it’s good,” said Ekk. “This is a long time coming. I put a lot of work in this summer.”

Taylor Ruck climbed onto the Pan Pacific Championship podium for a 10th time in her career later in the evening, helping the Canadian women muscle out a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay.

Ruck, Harvey (Trois-Rivières, Que.), Toronto’s Leah Tigert and Leilani Fack (Langley, B.C.) secured the final spot on the podium after clocking a combined time of 3:36.44.

“I had analyzed the heat and where we would be even before we started racing so I kind of new that if we were in that position then I’d have to gun for it,” said Fack, who took on the anchor leg. “On the blocks I was just ‘Leah get your hand on the wall.’ She did it and I just knew I had to finish the race and get us to the wall.

“It was surreal to (see the third on the board). I thought we could do it, but to see it, I was overwhelmed with joy to have all of that hard work pay off.”

 The United States won the women’s relay with a time of 3:29.32. Australia was second at 3:31.11.

The Canadians fielded a second squad – Sarah Fournier (Quebec City), Summer Cardwell (Point Claire, Que.), Brooklyn Douthwright (Riverview, N.B.) and Reina Liu – who placed sixth at 3:40.80.

Oliver Dawson, of Grand Prairie, Alta., chalked up a new Canadian record in the men’s 50m breaststroke. Racing in the B Final, the 18-year-old powered his way to a new Canadian standard of 27.28.

“I’m very happy. I just wanted to go fast, put a time down, and I got a Canadian record,” said Dawson.

The Canadian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team of Ruslan Gaziev (Toronto), Yuri Kisil (Calgary), Finlay Knox (Okotoks, Alta.) and Toronto’s Javier Acevedo punched the clock at 3:14.11 for fourth place.

Other Canadian results included: Sophie Angus (Toronto) swimming to fifth and Alexanne Lepage (Calgary) seventh in the women’s 50m breaststroke; Madyson Kryger (Niagara, Ont.) placed sixth in the women’s 200m backstroke; and Finlay Knox (Okotoks, Alta.) swam to seventh in the men’s 100m butterfly.

Team Canada has racked up 11 medals heading into Sunday’s final night of the Pan Pacific Championships.