Sylvia Ruuska information

Sylvia Ruuska
Personal information
Full name	Sylvia Eliina Ruuska
National team	United States
Born	July 4, 1942; Berkeley, California
Died	February 7, 2019 (aged 76)
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	139 lb (63 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, individual medley
Club	Berkeley YMCA
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
Pan American Games

Sylvia Eliina Ruuska (July 4, 1942 – February 7, 2019) was an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in two events.

At the age of 14, Ruuska won two medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.^[1] She captured a silver medal by swimming for the second-place U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay.^[1] Individually, she also received a bronze medal for her third-place finish in the women's 400-meter freestyle.^[1]

On June 27, 1958, she became the first woman to set an official world record in the 400-meter individual medley, clocking 5:46.6. Ruuska subsequently broke her own 400-meter record three times in 1958 and 1959, ultimately lowering the world mark to 5:40.2 on July 17, 1959. She also set a new world record of 2:43.2 in the 200-meter individual medley on August 16, 1958, and breaking her own record with a time of 2:40.3 on January 14, 1959. Both her 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley world records were later broken by Donna de Varona. At the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, she won a silver medal for her second-place showing in the 400-meter freestyle (5:03.4), finishing behind fellow American Chris von Saltza (4:55.9).

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Ruuska swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay.^[1] Under the international swimming rules in effect in 1960, she did not receive a medal because she did not swim in the event final.

Ruuska was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1976.^[2]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Sylvia Ruuska. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
^ International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees, Sylvia Ruuska (USA) Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 10, 2012.

[sroprofile-1] Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, Sylvia Ruuska. Retrieved September 29, 2012.

[ishofprofile-2] International Swimming Hall of Fame, Honorees, Sylvia Ruuska (USA) Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 10, 2012.

Sylvia Ruuska information

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World record progression 200 metres individual medley

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United States at the 1956 Summer Olympics

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List of members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame

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Deaths in February 2019

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Joan Rosazza

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