Oleksiak’s trip to Paris was eventful, but the decorated swimmer is ready to fight

Canada’s most decorated athlete has learned the power of grace as she approaches her third Olympic Games, but perhaps not her last.

A seven-time Olympic swimming medallist at just 23, Penny Oleksiak has had to deal with two knee surgeries and a shoulder injury in the three years since Tokyo, limiting her ability to train and compete.

When she felt stuck, Oleksiak performed a rite of passage into adulthood by figuring out how to get out. That meant leaving her hometown of Toronto.

“If I had to sum it up in one word, it would probably be ‘unexpected,’” Oleksiak said. “I’ve had a very trying few years and a lot of things have happened one after another.

“It’s been a really different experience for me. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last few years, about my patience and how to be forgiving in many situations.”

Oleksiak did not qualify for an individual event in Paris. She will be deployed in the relays starting in the women’s 4 x 100m freestyle on Saturday.

“I have a hard time accepting that I’m not competing in an individual event, but I’m still competing in a number of events,” Oleksiak said. “I always have a goal to do really impressive things and I train really hard to be able to do that and contribute to the team as much as I have in the past and see what impact I can have.

“I always have a very realistic view of the situation: as an athlete, my goal is always to get on the podium. I don’t think that will change at these Olympic Games.”

Her seven medals are the most by a Canadian Olympic athlete. Oleksiak has been a relay player throughout her career.

She won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the medley relay in Tokyo after a pair of relay bronze medals in Rio in 2016.

Her nine world championship medals — the most by a Canadian swimmer — have come in relays.

At 16, Oleksiak won gold in the 100-meter freestyle and silver in the 100-meter butterfly in Rio. She won bronze in the 200-meter freestyle in Tokyo.

“For the first time at this Olympics, I’m going to feel a little bit of relief, because I think when you’re in a relay and you’re surrounded by other girls, it really takes that pressure off, and you don’t feel as alone when you’re in the training room,” Oleksiak said.

She moved to Mission Viejo, California in 2023 to join a group of international professional swimmers coached by Jeff Julian. She had been training at the Pan Am Sports Centre in Toronto since she was 15.

“I really needed a change of scenery,” Oleksiak said. “Spending a year in the middle with my injury was really frustrating for me. I felt like I was stuck. I always wanted a different outcome, but I wasn’t doing anything different to get it.

“I’ve been very fortunate with the support team that I have in California for my training. I’m surrounded by some really incredible, talented people who are really good at what they do. I’ve had people help me nonstop, literally all the time. I’m surrounded by the best people for rehabbing these types of injuries, the best people for researching these injuries.

“It’s one of the first times I’m like, ‘OK, I have confidence in myself when I get hurt, I know I can come back.'”

It reminds Oleksiak of Los Angeles in 2028, when she was once sure Paris would be her last Olympics.

“It really made me want to extend my career,” she said. “Because of my injuries, a lot of people told me, ‘You don’t have to do this. You’ve accomplished a lot, you can retire.’ I just said, ‘I hate being told that. I hate being thought of as not wanting to do this.’”

“It was through my injuries that I found the motivation to know that I really wanted to do something.”

Ontario leads all provinces with 338 athletes named to Team Canada, or 141.

Oleksiak is among the Olympians, along with teammate Maggie Mac Neil and sprinter Andre De Grasse, who are receiving support from Quest For Gold, a program funded by the Ontario government and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Oleksiak has been a beneficiary of a decade-long program that has paid out $151 million to athletes since 2006.

“Without that financial support, I don’t think I would have been able to swim as much as I did,” she said. “Growing up, it helped a lot to be able to compete in swim meets that my family wouldn’t have been able to afford or to be able to attend training camps.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2024.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press