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Canada's Penny Oleksiak races to national record in 50-metre butterfly

BARCELONA, Spain — Canadian swimming star Penny Oleksiak has another Canadian record to her name.

The 17-year-old from Toronto set a Canadian record en route to winning silver in the women's 50-metre butterfly on the Mare Nostrum tour on Wednesday. Her time of 25.76 seconds lowered the previous mark of 25.92 set last year by Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que.

Rebecca Smith of Red Deer, Alta., finished fifth in 26.35, while Savard was seventh (26.69).

Oleksiak's silver was one of three medals for Canada on the day. Markus Thormeyer of Delta, B.C., was bronze in the 100-metre backstroke to go with the silver he captured in the 200-metre event Tuesday. Rob Hill of North Vancouver, B.C., was fifth.

Kelowna-born Taylor Ruck won bronze in the women's 200 back.

Montana Champagne of Ottawa, who along with Hill is competing as part of Canada's national team development program, was fourth in the men's 400 individual medley. Ottawa's Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson also narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth in the 200 I.M. 

Edmonton's Richard Funk made two finals, finishing fifth in the men's 200 breaststroke and sixth in the 50 breaststroke. Sandrine Mainville of Boucherville, Que., was sixth in the women's 100 freestyle.

Mare Nostrum is a three-leg series of two-day meets. The international event is a tune-up for next month's FINA world championships in Budapest.

The Canadian Press


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