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Taylor RUCK
Sport Swimming
NOC Canada   
GenderWomen
Born28 May 2000 in Kelowna, CAN
Height1.83 m
 Human Interest 
Further Personal Information
Residence
United States
General Interest
Injuries
In April 2016 she fought through bronchitis to swim six events at the 2016 Canadian Olympic Trials in Toronto, ON, Canada. (azcentral.com, 14 Jun 2016)
Famous relatives
Her father Colin played ice hockey in the Western Hockey League [WHL] in Canada. (azcentral.com, 14 Jun 2016)
Hero / Idol
US swimmer Missy Franklin. (olympic.ca, 12 Apr 2016)
Awards and honours
In 2018 she was named Swimming Canada's Female Athlete of the Year. (swimswam.com, 02 Jan 2019)

She was named the 2018 World Junior Swimmer of the Year in swimming website SwimSwam's Swammy Awards. She was also named the 2018 Newcomer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine. (swimswam.com, 02 Jan 2019; swimmingworldmagazine.com, 26 Dec 2018)
Sport Specific Information
Name of coach
Ben Titley [national], GBR;
When and where did you begin this sport?
She began taking swimming lessons at age 11 months at Cactus Pool in Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America. She began racing competitively at age eight.
Further Personal Information
Occupation
Athlete, Student
Languages
English
General Interest
Nicknames
T-Ruck (olympic.ca, 12 Apr 2016)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"Never give up." (olympic.ca, 12 Apr 2016)
Other information
EATING DISORDER
She developed an eating disorder in the years following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after becoming convinced that any extra weight would slow her down and hearing coaches make offhand remarks about her physique. She would go through a cycle of binge eating and then purging, and at one point lost about 10 kilograms. "When you get to a high-performance level, there's a lot of emphasis on doing all that you can do, just to take off one one-hundredth of a second. I just thought, 'I have control over nutrition. Why not do all that I can do?' I characterise myself as a pretty happy person, and I'd say I was more unhappy than not when I was eating less than I should have. And it kind of got to the point where I was having suicidal thoughts. It steals everything from you. There's no room for anything else in your brain." (theglobeandmail.com, 17 Dec 2021)

DEALING WITH PRESSURE
She has had help from coach Ben Titley to stop allowing media attention and pressure affect her performances. "I think when I was younger, I felt more expectations just because I didn't really know how to handle it. I think Ben's main point of advice is just keep doing what you're doing and just not let it go over your head. I think that really helps me just focus on practising each day and just keeping my normal routine. If I just stay grounded and keep doing what I'm doing, then I'll be able to achieve more success." (CBC Sports YouTube channel 10 Aug 2018)

GROWING UP IN THE UNITED STATES
She was born in Canada but grew up in Arizona in the United States of America, where her family moved when she was age 10 months. When her family would visit her grandparents in Kelowna, BC, Canada, she and her brother trained with the AquaJets, the same team her mother swam for as a teenager. "I've grown up here [in the United States of America] my whole life so I feel American, but I definitely owe my heritage to Canada. I didn't really have a choice, but [if I did] I'd still represent Canada." (olympic.ca, 12 Apr 2016)
Memorable sporting achievement
Beating US swimmer Katie Ledecky in the 200m freestyle at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, Japan. "I think that race was just amazing. There were so many great competitors in the field, and I wasn't expecting anything other than just to have fun. Winning it definitely made me set my sights on racing the big dogs." (olympicchannel.com, 22 Jul 2019; cbc.ca, 18 Jul 2019)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport?
Her first experience of a swimming pool was at her family's apartment complex in Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America. As a baby, her father would carry her around the pool and dunk her underwater, which, he said, she enjoyed, and wanted to be dunked again and again. Her love of being in the water and swimming grew from there.
General Interest
Milestones
When she and teammate Penny Oleksiak won bronze as part of the Canadian women's 4x100m freestyle relay team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, they became the first athletes born in the 21st century to win an Olympic medal for any nation. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 May 2021)
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team
Stanford University: United States

 Competition Highlights
Olympic Games
Rank Year Venue Event Result
9 2021 Tokyo, JPN 100m Backstroke 59.45
6 2021 Tokyo, JPN 200m Backstroke 2:08.24
  2021 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
2 2021 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  
3 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:32.89
5 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
3 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:45.39
World Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
5 2024 Doha, QAT 50m Freestyle 24.50 
3 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:37.95
6 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:55.71
9 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:47.99
4 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:23.79
3 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:56.43 
7 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:36.62
4 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  
Heats 2022 Budapest, HUN 200m Backstroke  DNS
Heats 2022 Budapest, HUN 100m Backstroke 1:01.14
6 2022 Budapest, HUN 200m Freestyle 1:57.24
2 2022 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:32.15
3 2022 Budapest, HUN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:44.76
2 2022 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  
5 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Backstroke 2:07.50
4 2019 Gwangju, KOR 100m Backstroke 58.96
Heats 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Freestyle  DNS
5 2019 Gwangju, KOR 100m Freestyle 53.03
3 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:44.35
3 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:31.78
3 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
4 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:22.54
World Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
7 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 200m Freestyle 1:52.88
6 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 100m Freestyle 52.08
3 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:46.22
4 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 4 x 50m Medley Relay 1:43.56
2 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:34.47
3 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:28.06
3 2016 Windsor, ON, CAN 200m Freestyle 1:52.50 
14 2016 Windsor, ON, CAN 400m Freestyle 4:06.69 
1 2016 Windsor, ON, CAN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:33.89
8 2016 Windsor, ON, CAN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  
World Cup
Rank Year Venue Event Result
52 2023   Overall Ranking  
8 2023 Budapest, HUN 200m Backstroke 2:14.99
8 2023 Budapest, HUN 50m Freestyle 25.18
8 2023 Budapest, HUN 100m Backstroke 1:01.24
2 2019 Berlin, GER 50m Backstroke 28.31
2 2019 Berlin, GER 100m Backstroke 59.84
1 2019 Berlin, GER 200m Backstroke 2:08.21
4 2019 Berlin, GER 100m Freestyle 54.67
6 2019 Budapest, HUN 50m Backstroke 28.94