Oleksiak’s national record headlines Mare Nostrum success
Canadian swimmers made a splash on the second leg of the Mare Nostrum tour in Barcelona, racking in a total of six medals. Amongst the top of the list were Rio 2016 Olympians Penny Oleksiak, Taylor Ruck and Markus Thormeyer.
Oleksiak set a new Canadian record on Wednesday with a time of 25.76s in the women’s 50-metre butterfly, earning herself a silver medal. The previous national record, set last year by fellow Olympian Katerine Savard, was 25.92s.
Canada’s Penny Oleksiak takes her start in the women’s 100 metre freestyle semi-final at the FINA world short-course swimming championships Wednesday, December 7, 2016 in Windsor, Ont. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Joining Oleksiak on the podium was her Rio 2016 relay-teammate Ruck, who took home the bronze in the women’s 200-m backstroke. While doing so, she set a new personal best with a time of 2:09.10.
British Colombia native Thormeyer also took home a bronze, with a time of 55.44s in the men’s 100-m back. Not far behind him was fellow B.C. swimmer Rob Hill who placed fifth in 56.22s.
Tuesday
Canadian swimmers are off to an impressive start in Barcelona, earning three medals on the first day of the Mare Nostrum tour.
Celebrating her 17th birthday, quadruple Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak, finished third in the 100-m butterfly with a time of 57.65s. She wasn’t far behind Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden’s second place time of 56.27s and Russia’s Svetlana Chimrova, who placed first in 57.36s.
Taylor Ruck of Canada swims to take the bronze medal in the women’s 200 metre freestyle at the FINA World Short Course Championships Tuesday, December 6, 2016 in Windsor, Ont. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Also on the women’s side was Taylor Ruck, who earned a bronze in the 100-m backstroke with a time of 1:00.86. Ahead of her was Russia’s Daria Ustinova, who placed second in 1:00.46, and Australia’s Emile Seebohm, who took home the gold in 58.99s.
Ruck also participated in the women’s 200-m freestyle, where she came in fifth with a time of 1:58.24.
On the men’s side, Markus Thormeyer snagged a silver in 2:00.94 in the 200-m backstroke. He finished just three seconds behind Mitch Larkin of Australia, who had a time of 1:57.48.
