Canadian swimmer Taylor Ruck enjoying success on the road to recovery from eating disorder

Canadian swimmer Taylor Ruck has been beaming every time she has shown up this week at Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, B.C., site of the national trials. Her smile can't be missed, she's full of energy. There's a sparkle in her eyes again. 

And there is renewed strength in her swimming.

Ruck, after competing in four events this week including the 100m, 200m backstroke and the 100m and 200m freestyle events, has qualified for the Canadian world championship team heading to Budapest this summer. This after capturing her first individual NCAA championship win last month in the 200-yard freestyle.

"I'm grateful to say I'm happier than ever and grateful to be sharing these experiences with my teammates," she told CBC Sports on Sunday, the final night of competition. "Just happy to be here. Happy to see everybody on deck. Performances were fine. Times weren't really my strong suit here but I feel I did the job. I got on the worlds team."

It wasn't all that long ago the 21-year-old from Kelowna, B.C.,  had a hard time finding happiness in just about anything she did. 

She was fully in the grips of an eating disorder and spiraling. It started in 2018, following extraordinary success. Ruck won a record eight medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games — that was preceded by winning two relay medals at her first Olympics at 16 years old in Rio. 

She was on a path to greatness in the pool. That's when Ruck says she started obsessing over everything she put in her body. From 2018 until 2020 she suffered in silence, quietly wilting away. 

"There's no energy to do a lot. It impacts your mood. There's a spiral that happens. I lost myself personally for a while," Ruck said. "I hope anyone going through this has help and I pray for