Winning swim doesn’t satisfy Oleksiak
Toronto teen takes gold at Canadian trials, but says she can do better
EDMONTON— Penny Oleksiak is still trying to find her Olympic form.
She took a step forward in the right direction at the 2018 Canadian swimming trials on Thursday with a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle race, even if she remains somewhat dissatisfied with her time of 54.75.
“I think I was a bit faster than that even when I was super out of shape,” she said. “I don’t think my result really shows how hard I have been training. I’m not super happy with the race, but I made the team and that is all I can ask for.”
An18-year-old Toronto native, Oleksiak became the face of the Canadian swimming scene at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio when she became the nation’s youngest Olympic champion by winning gold in the 100 freestyle, while adding a silver in the 100 butterfly and two relay bronzes.
She took some time to herself after her sudden fame and didn’t come back quite the way she wanted to at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia in April, where she helped Canada to three relay silvers, but didn’t shine in her individual events — coming in fourth in the 50 and 100 butterfly, fifth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 200 free.
On Thursday at the trials, where the winner of each event gains an automatic berth into next month’s Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, Oleksiak’s time was well shy of her Canadian record of 52.70.
As part of her attempts to return to form after taking some time to herself, Oleksiak has been spending time training in Florida.
“I think I have been training harder than what is showing right now, so I am just excited to see what I can do at Pan-Pacs,” she said. “I have learned a lot over the summer, and how to take care of myself more as a professional athlete.
“I just did stuff that was going to make me happy for a year instead of really focusing on pushing myself for swimming. I let everything calm down a bit and it helped me a lot and I am excited to ramp it up going into Tokyo.
“I am more motivated than ever to get better right now.”
Earning berths on the women’s 100 freestyle relay team for Japan were Alexia Zevnik, Kyla Leibel and Maggie MacNeil.