The 16-year-old swimmer from Toronto was second in the 100-metre butterfly final on Sunday, a day after picking up a freestyle relay bronze.
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Prior to the Olympics, Oleksiak had never raced in a world championship, Pan American Games or Commonwealth Games.
The 16-year-old from Toronto finished with a Canadian and world junior record time of 56.46 seconds to earn her second medal in as many nights.
It is Canada’s first medal in the event in 40 years.
Penny gets called “child” by her elder teammates, and ask Ruck to describe her relay teammates, and she feels. oh, let’s not say blessed, or bless up.
“To be honest, I’m not even sure which type of pizza she orders”, said the east end eatery’s owner, Elenor Imbrogno. He stood up and waved to me and he was literally the only person I saw in the crowd.
“I wasn’t super-nervous because the other girls had all done their job and got us in position”, Oleksiak said, in an interview posted on the Swimming Canada website.
Oleksiak, whose brother Jamie plays NHL hockey for the Dallas Stars, will take part in at least one more event this week and while she is not expecting another medal she will be giving her all. “Everything else was just a blur”.
She is back this year and scored in Canada’s win over Zimbabwe. She’s very mature for her age. Oleksiak blew him a kiss and calmly strolled away to the waiting TV cameras.
Oleksiak in the Women’s 100m Butterfly semifinal in Rio on Saturday.
Penny began swimming competitively after getting a few tips from her mother. “Just because he’s always been such an incredible athlete”. Hayes estimates he has worked with over 1,000 Canadian swimmers in his years as a coach.
Oleksiak didn’t realize just how big a deal the medals were back home in Canada. “What I remember about my first Olympics, I was so young, like Penny”.
As Rio progresses, Canada will get to see if that still holds true. “I was just trying to catch my breath. They all told me I just have to be here to have a fun time, because I still have the next Olympics to medal and everything, and it just took my nerves away”.
This past April, she qualified for three individual events and one relay, however dropped the 200m freestyle.
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