Women’s 4×200 Free Relay:
A strong argument could be made for the women’s 800 free relay being the relay race of the meet. Leah Smith got the USA off to a strong lead with a 1:54.87 split, but it was all Canada once Taylor Ruck (1:51.69) hit the water. Ruck pulled away from Mallory Comerford to secure the lead for Kennedy Goss (1:54.62) going into the third leg.
Goss, cruising to the cheers of the crowd, pulled even further away from Team USA before handing off to Canada’s superstar Penny Oleksiak (1:52.05). Oleksiak left the field in her dust as she continued to build her distance and flirt with the world record line as the crowd roared around her. The 16-year-old brought Canada within three tenths of a second within the world record line throughout her 200 meters, stopping the clock at a final 7:33.89, shy of the world record by 1.04 seconds.
Together Katerine Savard (1:55.53), Ruck (1:51.69), Goss (1:54.62), and Oleksiak (1:52.05) brought home Canada’s first gold medal of the 2016 FINA SC World Championships.
Canada’s time of 7:33.89 obliterated the previous Canadian record of 7:45.04 set in 2009 by Genevieve Saumur, Julia Wilkinson, Alexandra Gabor, and Heather Maclean.
The USA’s Smith (1:54.87), Comerford (1:53.32), Sarah Gibson (1:55.43), and Madisyn Cox (1:55.03) posted a second place finish of 7:38.65.
The Russian Federation and Australia battled to the finish for the bronze medal, with Russia picking up third with a 7:39.93 over Australia’s 7:40.00.
Japan posted a fifth place finish of 7:41.97, while China took sixth with a 7:42.09.
Germany and Denmark rounded out the top eight with times of 7:48.22 and 7:49.95.
in home waters we hope 🙂
awesome
Great swims!
Great race! Go Canada!! ?????
And these swimmers are still young.
where was katie ledecky?
At college where she belongs….
Ruck! Ruck! Ruck! Ruck! Ruck! Ruck! Ruck! Ruck! Arizona Ruck!