PENNY OLEKSIAK

The team and I are in the ready room before the race facing swimmers from all over the world. Some are famous. Some older. Some have better times. But we’re wearing the maple leaf, and we know what we have to do. It has been 28 years since our last women’s relay medal. From different parts of Canada, speaking different languages, it doesn’t matter that we competed against each other to get here. Today we are one team focused on one goal. We lock arms and walk out to the pool together. The speakers boom out our names followed by “Canada.” A cheer goes up from our fans wearing red and white and waving our flag. It’s up to us. Individual efforts may have brought us here, but we are better as one team swimming for the maple leaf. The drought is broken. We have just begun. Penny Oleksiak is Canada’s youngest Olympic champion. She won four medals during the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.