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 JettJack 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 SeeligerHugo 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.

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swammer
1 year ago

Really nice to hear the Frank Fiscalini pool is going to be used for such a major meet. It’s by far the best facility in norcal and has just been sitting there since the club team West Coast Aquatics was shut down in 2018.

swimdad
1 year ago

Story not accurate as Taylor is not swimming this weekend.

FlyBkBrFr
1 year ago

At this pool, the starting end is only4 1/2 feet deep. Wonder what kind of performances we will see?

Rap
1 year ago

Would love a high level swimmers honest opinion of Atkinson.

He calls you every once and a while

‘You been doing your “kick training”?’
‘Yes sir, everyday sir!’
‘And how’s your mental health”
‘Never better sir’
‘Okay if I blab about this to the press’
‘ I guess sir’
‘Now pass the phone over to your actual coach so we can chat’

Last edited 1 year ago by Rap
Bob
1 year ago

I thought Taylor Ruck had a broken wrist?

Taa
1 year ago

This Luka kid has some insane times. Let’s see if any of the college swimmers are ready to break out in LCM….mostly lookin to see what Alexy does

Big Loops
1 year ago

Definitely not the meet it used to be

neffry
1 year ago

What’s the reason for it being moved this year? I understand that the ISC in Santa Clara is an aging pool, but that’s a hugely important meet that has been historically hosted by SCSC.

swimmingtoday
Reply to  neffry
1 year ago

the pool heater is currently broken

neffry
Reply to  swimmingtoday
1 year ago

Oh dang… bummer, but thanks for the update. When I used to live in SJ, they were talking about completely updating the ISC…. guess that’s fallen by the wayside as well

DLswim
Reply to  neffry
1 year ago

The pool is really in bad shape. They had to move the high school ccs champs to another pool in early May for the same reason.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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