Canada's Taylor Ruck wins gold, silver at Mare Nostrum meet
18-year-old has won 9 medals so far going into series' final 2 days in Monaco on weekend
Canadian swimmer Taylor Ruck wrapped up an impressive appearance on the European Mare Nostrum tour with two more medals on Thursday.
The 18-year-old earned her eighth win over the first two legs of the tour, taking the 200-metre backstroke in Barcelona in two minutes 7.96 seconds. She also earned silver in the 100-m freestyle in 53.39, behind Danish Olympic 50-metre free champion Pernille Blume (53.32).
"I was very happy with my performances. I just had so much fun, that was the main highlight, just doing well in all my races was a bonus," she said. "I really felt it today on my last races, but I got through it, now I'm just ready to get back to training."
Ruck's performance came on the heels of Canada's sweep of the 200 free on Wednesday. Ruck won in 1:56.06, followed by Rebecca Smith of Red Deer, Alta., in 1:57.72 and Kayla Sanchez of Toronto in 1:58.49.
Smith, 18, and Sanchez, 17, also both made the final of the 100 free Thursday, with Sanchez finishing fourth in 54.31 and Smith sixth in 55.35. Smith also came sixth in the 200-m butterfly in 2:13.15.
Ruck also won the 50 free Wednesday in 24.68, while Sanchez was fourth in 25.09. Ruck had five golds at the first stop on the three-leg tour in Canet-en-Rousillon, France, earlier this week, on the back of her record eight-medal performance at the Commonwealth Games in April.