Rio 18-&-Under Medalists: Canada Still Leads as Oleksiak Grabs Silver

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

On day 2 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, we saw another medal go to a swimmer who falls in the 18 & under category. This time, it was yet again 16-year-old Penny Oleksiak, a rising star for the Canadian women.

Oleksiak broke her own Junior World Record with her swim in tonight’s 100 fly final, where she placed 2nd only to World Record holder Sarah Sjostrom. This was her 2nd time breaking the record at these games, as she lowered it from 56.99 to 56.73 in prelims before going on to touch in 56.46 in tonight’s final. That put her about a second behind Sjostrom’s winning time of 55.48, which she set as the new World Record.

The only other swimmer under 18 years of age to medal so far was Oleksiak’s Canadian teammate Taylor Ruck, who is also 16 years old. Both swimmers were a part of Canada’s 4×100 freestyle relay that took Bronze on night 1.

Aside from the Canadians, only Australia has picked up a medal in the 18-&-under category. Tonight, Kyle Chalmers was a part of Australia’s 400 free relay that won bronze. He took the 2nd leg of the relay, splitting a blistering 47.38. Notably, Chalmers was even faster on the prelims relay, which saw him clock a 47.04.

Rio 2016 18-&-Under Medals Table:

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
CAN 0 1 2 3
AUS 0 0 1 1

*note: since there were two 18 and under swimmers who earned medals on the Canadian relay, we will be counting this relay as two medals, although the relay bronze only counts as one medal in the real medal count.

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CoachGB
7 years ago

That Canadian team is swimming really well.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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