Taylor Ruck

Taylor Madison Ruck (born May 28, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer.

She became the first athlete born in the 2000s to win an Olympic medal along with fellow Canadian swimmer and relay partner Penny Oleksiak.

Ruck then won her second bronze medal as a part of the 4×200 metres freestyle relay team.

She swam in second spot in the heats alongside Katerine Savard, Emily Overholt and Kennedy Goss, and second again in the final event, with Brittany MacLean and Oleksiak replacing Overholt and Goss.

She last competed in the 4×100 metres medley, swimming the anchor leg in the trials before being replaced for the finals, where the Canadian team placed fifth.

Ruck is the all-time leading medallist at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships having won nine gold, two silver, and two bronze over the course of the 2015 and 2017 editions.

Ruck won the gold medal in the 100 meter freestyle at the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Singapore, breaking the Championships record in both the heats and the final.

She also won the 200 meter freestyle, again in a championship record.

She would add a bronze medal in the 200 backstroke, as well as three relay a medals a gold in the mixed 4×100 m free, silver in the 4×200 m free, and a bronze in the women's 4×100 m freestyle event.

She won two Olympic bronze medals as part of Canada's women's 4×100 metre and 4×200 metre freestyle relay teams at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Ruck was suffering from bronchitis during the trials for Canada's Olympic team and did not initially qualify, but officials took her illness into account and named her to the team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

There, as a sixteen year old Olympian, she swam the last leg in the heats and the second last leg of the finals in the women's 4×100 m relay final for Canada.

Ruck competed with Penny Oleksiak, Chantal Van Landeghem, Sandrine Mainville, and Michelle Williams and swam to a bronze medal, behind Australia and the United States.

After the win Ruck said of "I’m definitely not one to cry easily but I was about to...I feel 110 per cent Canadian now!"

The medal was the first Canadian women's freestyle relay medal at the Olympics in 40 years.

To end the 2016 season, Ruck and her teammates won a gold medal in the FINA short-course world swimming championships 4 × 200 m freestyle relay.

Ruck, swimming the second leg, posted the fastest split time of the final with a 1:51.69.

She also won a bronze medal in the individual 200 m freestyle.

Following her Olympic success in 2016, Ruck swam in the Canadian trials to compete at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.

There she was unable to place higher than fourth in any of the events, meaning she failed to qualify for the Canadian team in any of the events and missed worlds.

For the 2017 season, Ruck relocated back to Canada to train at the High Performance Centre – Ontario led by Ben Titley.

There she began training with teammates Oleksiak, Toro, Van Landegham, Rebecca Smith, Sandrine Mainville, Kayla Sanchez, and Richard Funk.

Ruck was part of the gold medal 4 × 200 m freestyle 2017 World Junior Swimming Championships team in Indianapolis.

In the process the team broke the junior world record and championship record.

Ruck would add gold medals and world junior records in both the 4×100 m relay and the 4×100 m medley.

She set the world junior record in the girl's 100 m backstroke semis, but would lose the record and the gold medal to Regan Smith while winning the silver medal in the event.

While swimming in the 200 m freestyle event, she lowered the championship record twice when she set a 1:57.08.

Ruck also set a 100 m championship record while leading off the 4×100 m relay when she swam to a 53.63.

Ruck won eight medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Her eight medal performance of one gold, five silver, and two bronze tied her with three other athletes for the most all-time at a single Commonwealth Games, as well as making her the most decorated Canadian female athlete ever at a single Commonwealth Games.

Ruck competed as part of Canada's 2018 Commonwealth Games team in her buildup to the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The first day of competition in the Gold Coast was in fact a golden one when Ruck out-swam Ariarne Titmus and Emma McKeon to win the 200m freestyle in a Commonwealth Games record 1:54.81.

The time was also a Canadian record.

Later that night she added to her total with a silver in the 4×100 m freestyle relay together with Penny Oleksiak, Kayla Sanchez, and Alexia Zevnik.

The next day Ruck kept amassing medals, winning three more Saturday evening.

She started the night tying for silver in the 50 m freestyle event medaling with the Campbell sisters.

Next Ruck won a bronze in the 100 m backstroke behind winner, teammate, and world record holder Kylie Masse.

She would cap the night with a silver in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.

She went on to win a silver behind Masse in the 200 m backstroke, finishing ahead of Emily Seebohm, and a bronze medal in the 100 m backstroke.

On the final day of competition, Ruck tied the Commonwealth Games record for total medals at a single games with eight, when she anchored the 4×100 m medley relay team to a silver medal.