The Week That Was: Final World Cup Cluster Begins In Beijing

beijing-water-cube
Photo Courtesy: Todd Schmitz

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The final cluster of the 2017 FINA World Cup started in Beijing this week, with a handful of world junior records falling. Look below to see recaps of that meet and the biggest news from the past week in this edition of The Week That Was!

The Week That Was #5 – Taylor Ruck Sets Three Canadian Age Group Records at 2017 NYAC Cup

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

World Junior Champ and Stanford commit Taylor Ruck took down three Canadian Age Group records at the recent 2017 New York Athletic Club Cup this week. Competing in the 50 and 100 free, 100 and 200 back and the 200 IM, Ruck set new short course meter records in the 100 back (57.26), 200 back (2:03.79), and 50 free (24.48). This was Ruck’s first competition since the 2017 World Junior Championships. She has some experience in short course meters racing, having four medals to her name from the 2016 Short Course World Championships. You can see the full results of the meet here.

The Week That Was #4 – Urbancheck Honored With IOC Lifetime Achievement Award

Photo Courtesy: Greg Smith - USA Today Sports

Photo Courtesy: Greg Smith – USA Today Sports

Jon Urbanchek, the famed coach of the University of Michigan men’s team from 1982 to 2004, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Olympic Committee this week. Urbanchek stayed at Michigan past his time as a head coach, serving as an assistant to Bob Bowman and Mike Bottom until the lead up to the 2012 Olympics, when he moved to Southern California to coach pro athletes in Fullerton. Throughout his career, Urbanchek has coached more than 40 swimmers who competed in six Olympic Games between 1992 and 2012 who have brought home more than 20 medals, including 11 golds. He was also a member of all six U.S. Olympic Teams coaching staffs. Urbanchek, who is now 81, still helps coaching a few days a week at the University of Southern California. You can read USA Swimming’s full statement on Urbanchek’s honor here.

The Week That Was #3 – NC State Men Take Down Texas, Longhorn Women Remain Undefeated

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Texas men and women traveled over to North Carolina to take on NC State at the Casey Aquatic Center, with the teams splitting wins. The NC State men took down the defending NCAA Champion Longhorns, with Anton Ipsen continuing his unbeaten streak at home with a nation leading time in the 1000 free (8:49.75). Olympian Ryan Held competed in his specialty sprint events for the first time this season, winning the 50 (19.57) and 100 (43.16) free in the third and fourth-fastest times in the country, respectively. The women’s meet was the opposite story, with the Texas women continuing their undefeated season with a comfortable 184-116 win over the Wolfpack. In other college action, the No. 1 Indiana men’s team extended their winning streak to 19 with a victory over Notre Dame, while Louisville and UVA split in tri-meet with Princeton.

The Week That Was #2 – WADA Obtains New Data in Russian Doping Probe

WADA

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has received new data that has the test results of more than a thousand Russian athletes from the past twenty years. This could be a major piece of evidence related to the investigation of the state-sponsored doping program that Russia has allegedly been running through the last several Olympic cycles. In a news release that was posted on Friday, WADA claimed they have an electronic file with testing data from January 2012 to August of 2015 that could affect Russia’s status in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. A separate article in The New York Times reported that more than 1000 athletes may be implicated in the data file. WADA has ordered Russia to share the data on the condition the nation would be restored to good standing with the organization and will be holding a meeting next week to determine the country’s eligibility for upcoming Olympic Games.

The Week That Was #1 – Final World Cup Cluster Begins In Beijing

beijing-water-cube

Photo Courtesy: Todd Schmitz

The final cluster of the 2017 FINA World Cup series began this week in Beijing, with a handful of World Junior Records (WJR) falling throughout the meet. China’s Wang Jianjiahe came away with two of those WJRs, scoring one on the first night in the 400 free when she dropped the record from 4:00.56 down to 3:59.69. She followed that up with a second record on night two, dropping three seconds from her old record in the 800 free to set a new mark in 8:12.30. The USA’s Michael Andrew also set a new WJR in the 100 IM (51.86), coming in second behind Russian Vlad Morozov. Morozov was less than a tenth off of his own world record in that event (50.36). You can see complete results from the first night of the Beijing stop here and the second night here.

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