NCAA runner-up Taylor Ruck of Stanford has confirmed to SwimSwam that she will sit out the 2019-2020 college season while remaining in Toronto, Canada to train for the 2020 Olympics.
Ruck has been a phenom, both for Canada internationally and for Stanford in the NCAA’s short course yards format. As a freshman last year, Ruck was a two-time individual NCAA runner-up, taking second in the 200 free (1:40.37) and 200 back (1:47.59). She was also third in the 100 back (50.34) and helped Stanford’s 800 free relay win a national title with a 1:39.83 split. Ruck, the #1 recruit in her class leading the top-ranked recruiting class, helped Stanford win its third consecutive NCAA title.
Internationally, she won three bronze medals at this summer’s World Championships, as part of the 4×100 free, 4×200 free and 4×100 medley relays. Last summer was even more explosive, as Ruck won a record 8 medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games followed by five more medals at the Pan Pacific Championships, including a huge 200 free win over Katie Ledecky and Rikako Ikee.
Ruck, who just turned 19 in May, will swim for coach Ben Titley at Canada’s High Performance Center in Ontario. The Toronto-based group is the training home for a number of Canada’s top Olympic hopefuls.
In 2016, Ruck won two Olympic bronze medals on relays as Canada won six total swimming medals. A rising group of young Canadian women have brought the country into the international limelight, and Canada won 8 total swimming medals at 2019 Worlds, all of them in Olympic events. Ruck was on the cusp of three more individual medal: she was 5th in the 200 back, 4th in the 100 back and 5th in the 100 free while scratching the 200 free.
Even without Ruck, Stanford returns the most points of NCAA programs, though her relay legs will be especially hard to replace as the Cardinal chases a fourth consecutive NCAA title.
But,… looking past next year to the year After the Olympics, when Stanford is scheduled to get Both Ruck (3yrs.) and Smith (4yrs.) Ok Stanford has already won the NCAA 3x, but the combo of Ruck and Smith are the foundation for a true women’s swimming Dynasty!
Two of the best backstrokers on the same team. I’m excited to watch both compete during the olympics and as teammates afterwards.
Braden — To weigh in a bit on the “phenom” issue — She has from the age of 14 -15 (fitting the “young” criterion for “phenom”) she has medalled, some gold, at every tier in the system from Jrs, to Grand Prix, to World Jrs, to Olympics(relay only), to Commonwealth, to Pan Pacific, to Pac-12 to NCAA to several world championships (LCM and SCM) continuing to improve gradually over maybe 14-16 training/competition cycles. And during this process she became gradually more and more criticized north of the border for diversifying her participation interests in ways the true believers might feel could have a deleterious effect on the Canadian medal totals, a kind of pressure with which most Americans/NCAA swimmers don’t… Read more »
This may be the most in depth, factual, and on point commentary I have ever seen on here…wow DUNC1952. Re Miss Ruck, I have watched her progression for several years as well and I think that she is capable of historical greatness in multiple events…she has no limits in terms of further progression due to her physical make up and killer race mentality…and her core/overall strength is just beginning to develop, as are her turns/under waters/break outs. And make no mistake, if those young Canadian girls take another step and Miss Ruck and Miss Penny have big swims, the women’s Olympic relays will be more fun to watch than any in my memory…period.
Miss Ruck has two of the… Read more »
Thanks, Masterswim
Agreed with the in depth comment, no idea exactly how factual but sounds reasonable and right! Refreshing to hear an in depth take on why/what/where instead of just ‘critisism’ with no back up. Taylor and Penny both received alot of that on these boards for the scratch decisions at world’s. On paper sure it looked a bit odd: Olympic co champ out and 2018 world#1 out, until anyone actually looked at their schedules leading up to the 4*2 and the fact that they and coaches probably thought they had a shot to win. Which in reality of Taylor hit her 2018 split they would have been at worst the 3rd team to go under the 4*2 world record. Penny had… Read more »
If she has the Tokyo Games she and the Canadian women’s relays are capable of, she is done with the NCAA.
Maybe, maybe not. Do you have some special insight into Taylor or are you just expressing what you would do?
She’s a pivotal part of the relays for Canada. They are right behind the USA and AUS. Canada has the World Champion in two of the medley legs – back and butterfly.
Ruck swims free and back, and we all know how competitive those events are. I thought the 200 free was her best event for awhile. Maybe she can get the mojo back in the 200 free and get an individual medal.
The Canadian Freestyle relays are younger than US or Australia. My money is on Team Maple Syrup.
My money is on them to pad their bronze medal totals
There American still have the edge with gretchen Walsh getting stronger a year our of trials
The Canadian 4*2 team was a “2018 Taylor 200 free” split away from making it possibly 3 teams under the world record. Yes there are always many ‘ifs’, but if Taylor can return to that form you’ve got:
Taylor 154
Penny 154
Emily O 156
Sanchez 157
The young girl at world Juniors (sorry name escapes me) 157
The oldest above is 20…
Jade Hannah?
O’Croinin
Yes thank-you
The article says she was a NCAA runner-up in 2 events but I’m pretty sure it was only one. She got third in the 100 back and 200 free.
runner up in the 200 free bud
She was 2nd in the 200 free, 3rd in the 100 back, and 2nd in the 200 back – https://cdn.swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/W.NCAA-2019.pdf
This is a smart play financially. SR1 Canadian funding/carding (approx. 20,000) for finals appearance at worlds plus $20,000 Ontario provincial high performance funding for world top 10 ranking plus own the podium funding which she’ll be allowed to keep. It would get trickier for her to maintain amateur status if she tried to keep any World Cup prize money though.
If she wants to go back and swim with Stanford, she can only accept one major payout from Canada (which I’m assuming would be the totality of whatever she earns in their minds in Tokyo).
Carding is not the same as a medal bonus. It’s her national team funding. NCAA swimmers on the US National team get funding. SMH
Does this mean that she will swim the 2022-23 season as well now? Or will she still graduate in 2022?
selfish
Selfish? More like Taylor is a team player. Canada has a legit shot to win 4×1 and 4×2 Free in Tokyo. This squad is world record material.
Naw, the americans have a better chance to win the free relays compared to the Canadians
Certainly on paper and after this summer yes. But the gap is closing and fast. Can was leading at 300 of the 4*1 and ahead of US until about 325 or the 350 wall? Only Maggie was faster than her trials flat start or personal best time. The other 3 were ‘good’ but not their absolute best. Hard for any relay to have all 4 fire at once but if the youngest team in the field continues to improve by a bit and they all fire when it counts they will be right in the mix.
Oh and the 4*2 was missing only a 2018 Taylor 154 split to be right in the mix of that one…