Ruck Returns As Stanford & Cal Swimmers Head To George Haines International Meet

2023 George F. Haines International Swim Meet

• Thursday, June 8 – Sunday, June 11, 2023
• San Jose, CA
• Frank Fiscalini International Swim Center
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets

A loaded lineup of Cal and Stanford swimmers will converge at the George Haines International Swim Meet this weekend, with action getting underway tonight in the 1500 free before three full days of racing in San Jose.

The meet has traditionally been held at the George Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara, but has been re-located to the Frank Fiscalini International Swim Center at Independence High School for this year’s edition.

The competition will feature the return of Taylor Ruck, the Canadian Olympic medalist who hasn’t raced since the Women’s NCAA Championships in March after opting out of the Canadian World Trials and then breaking her hand in a skateboarding accident.

Ruck was still named to the Canadian World Championship team despite missing the Trials, and her presence in Fukuoka will be relied upon heavily in the absence of Penny Oleksiak, who withdrew from the Worlds team last week.

Ruck will race at the meet (and not DFS or scratch), as was confirmed by CBC on Thursday. The 23-year-old is entered in the women’s 50, 100 and 200 free, along with the 100 fly.

“She’s been doing a lot of kick training,” Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson told CBC. “She’s worked on this with her coach in Stanford and when I talked to her last week Taylor was in a very, very good place from a mental health perspective.

“She can go and race and get a real indicator of where she’s at and I’ll talk to her after the meet.”

Ruck will be joined by many of her Stanford University teammates, including American stars Torri Huske and Claire Curzan, who will both be redshirting next season in the NCAA to go all-in on the Paris Olympics.

Huske and Curzan, who will be favored to qualify for multiple events on the American World Championships at U.S. Nationals in three weeks, will go head-to-head in the women’s 200 free and 100 back in San Jose, while Huske has also entered the 50 free and 100 fly, and Curzan will take on the 100 free, 50 back and 50 fly.

Other key names to watch for on the women’s side include Cal swimmers Abbey Weitzeil and Isabelle Stadden.

Weitzeil, who has been on fire this year having won the 50 free at all four stops of the Pro Swim Series, will race that event along with the 50 fly, while Stadden, who is one of several contenders in the women’s backstroke events at Nationals, has entered the 100 back and 50 free.

The men’s field is headlined by Ryan Murphy, who is the top seed by a wide margin in the 100 and 200 back.

Gabriel Jett, Jack Alexy and Dare Rose are three American members of Cal’s NCAA Championship-winning team who will be using the meet as a tune-up for Nationals, while their international Golden Bear teammates Bjorn Seeliger, Hugo Gonzalez and Lucas Henveaux will also be racing.

• Jett – 400 free, 200 back, 200 fly
• Alexy – 50 free, 50 fly
• Rose – 200 free, 100 fly
• Seeliger – 50/100 free, 50 fly
• Gonzalez – 100/200 breast, 50/100 fly
• Henveaux – 200/400 free

There will also be a number of up-and-coming age group names to keep an eye on at the competition, most notably 14-year-old Luka Mijatovic, who has been coming increasingly close to numerous NAG records in the boys’ 13-14 age group this season.

Mijatovic has entered the 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 free, along with the 200 back and 400 IM.