2024 CANADIAN OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC TRIALS
- May 13-19, 2024
- Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre – Toronto, Ontario
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- How To Watch
- Swimming Canada Olympic Selection Criteria
- Psych Sheets (Updated 05/10)
- Live Results
- Prelims – Day 1 Recap
- Finals – Day 1 Recap
Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet
It was a relatively quiet afternoon at the scratch table for today’s events amongst the expected A-Finalists, but one other big name outside of the top 10 has withdrawn from today’s events. Four-time Olympic medalist Taylor Ruck has opted out of today’s 200 free.
A member of the 2016 Bronze medal-winning 4×200 free relay, Ruck entered the competition as the 17th seed with a seed time of 2:01.33, which she achieved at the Pro Swim Series stop in Knoxville this past January. Ruck, who has been as fast as 1:54.44, recently changed training bases, having relocated to ASU this past winter. Ruck did not compete in the 200 free at the Doha Worlds but was a member of the 4×200 relay, where she split 1:59.59.
Ruck may just be strategizing here and hoping to perform her best in events where she is seeded higher. On paper, Ruck is still entered in the 100 back (#4 seed), 100 free (#4 seed) and 50 free (#1 seed). Ruck has started to shift more to the sprint events, as she slowly has started trading out the 200 back in favor of the 50 free. At the 2021 Olympic Trials, Ruck placed 5th in the 100 free, 12th in the 200 free, and earned 2nd in both backstroke events
The one swimmer across all of the events who has scratched out of the top ten is Finlay Knox, who has opted out of the 100 back. Knox appeared on the entries sheet as the number six seed with a time of 55.25, which stands as a personal best time from the December VPSC Winter Invitational.
This scratch should not surprise many swim fans. Knox won the 100 breast last night in a new personal best of 1:00.66, dropping his personal best by a quarter of a second. While the time sits outside of the Olympic Qualifying Time of 59.49, his result likely punches a ticket to Paris as part of the Men’s 4×100 medley relay. With that spot obtained, it seems unlikely that Knox would try to go after the backstroke leg in the relay as well.
With the scratch, Knox still is entered in five events. He is scheduled to swim the 200 free, where he is the #2 seed behind Javier Acevedo, the 100 free (#5) and the 100 fly (#3). Knox is also the top seed in the 200 IM where he will look to improve upon his 2024 Worlds Gold medal performance of 1:56.64.
Knox’s scratch would move William Beckstead-Holman into the top 10. However, he, too, has scratched. Initially entered as the #11 seed with a time of 55.86, the new #10 falls to youngster Ethan Ekk. Ekk, who is entered with a time of 56.69, had a great performance yesterday in the 400 free, finishing just off the podium in 4th place with a time of 3:53.85. Beckstead-Holman is still entered in the 200 free (#39), 100 free (#34), 50 free (#28) and 100 fly (#28).
All Top 30 Scratches
- Men’s 400 IM: Bill Dongfeng (#18 – 4:33.98), Justin Jung (#19 – 4:34.76), Jack Haycock (#26 – 4:36.99)
- Women’s 200 Free: Taylor Ruck (#17 – 2:01.33)
- Men’s 100 Back: Finlay Knox (#6 – 55.25), William Beckstead-Holman (#11 – 55.86), Benjamin Loewen (#15 – 56.97), Andrew Xie (#27 – 57.79)
- Women’s 100 Breast: None
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Two Time Olympian Taylor Ruck Scratches out of the 200 Free on Day 2 of the Canadian OT
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