\u2018Most Decorated\u2019 Canadian Penny Oleksiak Relishes in Illustrious Second Chapter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Penny Oleksiak<\/strong> was barely out of the water when she heard those two words, ones she tried not to think about entering the Tokyo Olympics but which soon became unavoidable.<\/p>\n

When uttered for the last time on deck at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, by women she calls not just training partners but dear friends, they rang out with no hint of pressure or foreboding, just unabashed joy.<\/p>\n

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Canada’s 400 free relay of, from left, Penny Oleksiak, Rebecca Smith, Maggie MacNeil and Kayla Sanchez show off their silver medals; Photo Courtesy: Robert Hanashiro\/USA TODAY Network<\/p><\/div>\n
The reward for her resilience is a medal haul unlike anything a Canadian has ever managed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly wasn\u2019t thinking about it coming into the Games,\u201d Oleksiak said. \u201cBut once I got my sixth, there was a little bit of pressure on me I feel like to get that seventh medal. In my other two races, I was really thinking about it \u2013 get that seventh, get that seventh \u2013 and I got fourth in both which hurt a little bit. But then I was like, honestly on the last race, at this point, I accepted it. I have six Olympic medals and I\u2019m not going to complain if I leave here with six Olympic medals. I\u2019m more than happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
For all the medals, Oleksiak\u2019s mindset might be the most exemplary aspect of her longevity. She arrived in Rio in 2016 a relative unknown and left as the first athlete \u2013 not swimmer, athlete \u2013 born after 2000 to win gold<\/a>. She most famously won the women\u2019s 100 free in a historic tie with Simone Manuel,<\/strong> and added silver in the 100 butterfly to a pair of relay bronzes.<\/p>\n
In the intervening five years, Oleksiak has gone back and forth with her love of the sport<\/a>, both with racing and training<\/a>. She\u2019s endured a back injury that kept her out of the water for several months last year, part of the struggles that come with standing 6-foot-1. Away from the pool, she\u2019s gone through, \u201chell and back for the last two, three years,\u201d issues that she hasn\u2019t shared publicly (and declined to again at the end of the Games.)<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a phenomenal young woman,\u201d coach Ben Titley<\/strong> said. \u201cShe\u2019s had more challenges than you will ever know about and probably shouldn\u2019t. And she comes through and she delivers, and when she\u2019s with her teammates like that, they lift each other up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through all that, there was Oleksiak this week, exhorting people on social media not to feel sorry for her after missing a medal in the 100 free by .07 seconds, her second fourth-place finish of the Games to go with the 800 free relay. It\u2019s the mindset of someone who has found a level of peace with a sport that has given her so much but also asked a lot.<\/p>\n
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I just googled \u201cCanada\u2019s most decorated Olympian\u201d and my name came up. I want to thank that teacher in high school who told me to stop swimming to focus on school bc swimming wouldn\u2019t get me anywhere. This is what dreams are made of.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Penny Oleksiak (@OleksiakPenny) August 3, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n