Canada Women Propel to 800 Free Relay Gold on Home Soil

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.

womens-800-free-relay

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