Penny Oleksiak “There’s always ways to get better… I’m willing to put in the work”

6th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships

Penny Oleksiak has been the not-so-secret weapon for Canada’s relays at FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Indianapolis. While she was not entered in any individual events, she has contributed mightily to three Canadian gold medals in the three races she’s swum: the women’s 4×200 free (where she swam the second leg in 1:56.86), the mixed 4×100 medley (where she split a 56.98 butterfly),  and the mixed 4×100 free (where she anchored in 52.99).

Explaining why she came to Indy, Oleksiak said, “I think I mainly wanted to be here just to be with the three girls I train with every day because we’re going to probably be going to the Olympics together, going to other Worlds together, so just having that team together at meets, at training, is just good for the long run.”

When asked how she stays motivated, she said, “I always have something that I want to fix, whether it’s just in training or whether it’s after a race. I think that helps to keeps me motivated because I know if there’s always something I can fix, there’s always ways to get better.”

“It’s going to be very difficult to get where I want to go, but I’m willing to put in the work. I’m only 17 right now and I have such a long career ahead of me.”

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Swim Pop
6 years ago

So their training group is like Canada’s Stanford, without all the college stuff.

Steve Nolan
6 years ago

“We’re probably going to be…going to other worlds together.”

You heard it here first – Canada’s space program is gonna be stacked w/ swimmers.

Anonymous
Reply to  Steve Nolan
6 years ago

Gotta get that altitude training in

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Anonymous
6 years ago

Colorado has that training facility ?

G.I.N.A
Reply to  Steve Nolan
6 years ago

Has there ever been a Canadian in soace?

ooo
Reply to  G.I.N.A
6 years ago

Yep! Ms Paquette to name one and Chris Hadfield to name another
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo

G.I.N.A
Reply to  ooo
6 years ago

The first group of American astronauts were too tall for the Russian spaceships which had deduced Cosmonauts should be 5’6 . Not sure Gigantic swimmers are going anywhere .

Harry Dresden
Reply to  G.I.N.A
6 years ago

She’s like 5’9…I get your bad joke but its not like she’s Nathan Adrian

KRB
Reply to  Harry Dresden
6 years ago

She is definitely taller than 5’9″. She is about 6’1″.

Harry Dresden
Reply to  KRB
6 years ago

Semantics aside, the point stands

G.I.N.A.
Reply to  Harry Dresden
6 years ago

Mr Humourless. The fact stands that the Americans had to retrain more compact astronauts to fit the Russian Soyuz . Newer more energy efficient ships maybe extended the height range a bit . however by the pitch of the Canadian guy singing I’d say he was a compact & thin guy .

It is also a fact that swimmers & increasingly the newest wave of juniors are very long & not suited to airline travel let alone space capsules.

It really was a joke but physics is physics.

sven
Reply to  Harry Dresden
6 years ago

Tall people also struggle with excessive G-forces more than short people, because there is more space for the blood to drain from their heads. Short bodies, on the other hand, ensure less blood drains from the brain and consciousness is more likely to be retained. Helps quite a bit during takeoff and such. So lil’ Tom Cruise might actually be quite suited for a job as a fighter pilot.

So yes, many Olympic swimmers would probably cause some worry as astronauts, but there is a solution. If we cut off their legs at the knee, the blood won’t be able to pool in their feet, and they will withstand the G-forces better. It worked for some fighter pilots in WW2,… Read more »

G.I.N.A
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

You are very wise Sven . It must be that ultra short training that keeps the blood flowing to the brain . Im embarking on a distance zone so I expect to be rather witless for some time . However just before I seratonin out , may I suggest Oscar Pretorius as a perfect astronaut athlete .

Bo swims
Reply to  G.I.N.A
6 years ago

Quite a few.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Steve Nolan
6 years ago

lol

Bob
6 years ago

Did she not swim the fly leg in the mixed 4×100 medley relay?

Ben
Reply to  Bob
6 years ago

Looks like they partially fixed it by adding in the mixed medley, but the sentence still says “she has contributed mightily to two Canadian gold medals in the two races she’s swum”

Editor?

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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