Canadian Olympic Trials: Reigning Olympic Champ Penny Oleksiak Rips 52.89 100 Free
Penny Oleksiak has been gotten messages during Canadian Olympic Trials wondering where she is.
Partially, that’s because there’s no “Penny” on the heat sheets. Instead, the swimmer whose mental focus has been on returning to the mindset of a relative unknown rather than an Olympic champion, is listed as “Penelope.”
And that’s just fine, since Penelope Oleksiak is swimming about as fast as Penny Oleksiak ever has.
Oleksiak re-entered rarefied air in the women’s 100 free Tuesday night, getting back under 53 seconds to win the event in 52.89. The time is the third-fastest in the world in 2021, and it’s near the 52.70 that Oleksiak used in Rio to tie for the gold medal.
“It honestly just gives me a massive boost of confidence that I think I’ve been searching for a little bit,” Oleksiak said on a post-meet Zoom call. “I’ve been having good races when we do our time trials and I’ve been in the 53s, which is pretty rare for me in-season. To come to this meet not fully tapered and have that competitive edge again and have those girls to race against, I think it really pushed me and gave me that confidence for Tokyo.”
- Live Results
- Day 1 prelims: Joshua Liendo Kicks off Canadian Olympic Trials with National Record in 100 Fly
- Day 1 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Katerine Savard Books Third Olympic Trip in 100 Fly
- Day 1 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Kylie Masse Makes Statement with 57.70 100 Back
- Day 2 prelims: Canadian Olympic Trials: Penny Oleksiak, Kelsey Wog Earn Top Seeds
- Day 2 finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Summer McIntosh Rallies Past Penny Oleksiak to Win 200 Free
- Day 3 Prelims: Canadian Olympic Trials: Joshua Liendo Adds 50 Free A Cut in Prelims
- Day 3 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Summer McIntosh Adds A Cut in 800 Free
- Day 3 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Sydney Pickrem Outduels Kelsey Wog in 200 IM
- Day 3 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Brent Hayden Sprints Into Fourth Olympics in 50
- Day 4 Prelims: Canadian Olympic Trials: Yuri Kisil Nabs 100 Free A Cut; Brent Hayden Scratches Final
- Day 4 Finals: Canadian Olympic Trials: Kelsey Wog Adds Second Win in 200 Breast
It’s been a long journey for Oleksiak, who went from teenage prospect to global superstar by tying with Simone Manuel in Rio for gold. Admittedly, the weight of expectation that came with that medal was a lot to carry. It conveyed into two World Championships where she didn’t medal individually.
Penny Oleksiak; Photo Courtesy: Scott Grant/Swimming Canada
Oleksiak said this week that her focus has been on returning to the mental clarity of her pre-Rio life: No expectations, just racing and having fun. She’s gotten there, she thinks. And swims like Tuesday provide the confidence to continue that.
The confidence fuels the other part of the equation, which is her race program. Oleksiak took gold in the 100 free and silver in the 100 fly in Rio. She’s not swimming the latter event at Trials, where Canada has the reigning world champion in Maggie MacNeil. When Olympic pre-selections were made in May, Oleksiak made the team in the 200 free … but not the 100, where Taylor Ruck was picked.
That change isn’t so much in her training as in her mentality. While she wasn’t all that pleased with her time in the 200 free on Sunday, finishing second to 14-year-old Summer McIntosh, it is job done for Oleksiak to get to Tokyo and be a cornerstone of the 800 free relay.
“I think after Rio, I had a really big high,” Oleksiak said. “And it was super fun to swim, go to meets, be kind of known in the swimming community. I think after that, there was a lot of pressure behind my name and behind the 100 free and it wasn’t really enjoyable for me. And no time was ever really good enough for me. I always wanted to be at that 52 time and I wasn’t getting that. I think now I’m back into that mindset where I have that confidence again, I’m excited to swim again, I love training again.”
Oleksiak led three swimmers with A cuts in the race, which complicates the selection picture since Ruck isn’t among them. Second was Kayla Sanchez, the 50 free champ, in 53.77. MacNeil was third in 54.02 to all but guarantee a relay spot. Katerine Savard continues an outstanding trials by taking fourth in 54.51.
Ruck was fifth in 54.48. She’s struggled in freestyle events this week, scratching the 50 free and failing to make finals in the 200 free, both events in which she holds national records. Ruck’s best time in the 100 free is a 53.03 that will have to be weighed against Sanchez’s more recent swims.
For Oleksiak, Trials brings an interesting inflection point. For years, she was all about racing, a sprinter who would throw down any day. Loving training required time and effort. Now, thanks to the pandemic, the 21-year-old came to appreciate training at a deeper level … so much so that she was nervous about the return to racing after the long COVID-related layoff.
Tuesday’s effort put to rest any doubts she might have had about her ability to get up on the block and take on the world’s best.
“I always loved racing and hated training,” she said. “And I think that race pushed me back into my love for racing, and it got me excited for Tokyo.”
Event 21 Women 100 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 52.70 2016-08-11Penny Oleksiak, TSC
OLYMPIC A: A 54.38
Name Year Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Oleksiak, Penelope 00 TSC 54.00 52.89A
r:+0.71 25.66 52.89 (27.23)
2 Sanchez, Kayla 01 AAC 54.18 53.77A
r:+0.73 25.68 53.77 (28.09)
3 MacNeil, Margaret 00 LAC 54.88 54.02A
r:+0.66 26.24 54.02 (27.78)
4 Savard, Katerine 93 CAMO 54.82 54.51
r:+0.62 26.33 54.51 (28.18)
5 Ruck, Taylor 00 SCAR 54.73 54.58
r:+0.72 25.77 54.58 (28.81)
6 Smith, Rebecca 00 SCAR 54.88 54.64
r:+0.74 26.02 54.64 (28.62)
7 Fournier, Sarah 96 CNQ 55.39 54.82
r:+0.71 26.63 54.82 (28.19)
8 Douthwright, Brooklyn 03 CNBO 55.49 55.15
r:+0.67 26.32 55.15 (28.83)
9 Daley, Elan 05 MAC 56.25 55.93
r:+0.64 26.99 55.93 (28.94)
10 Ackman, Alyson 93 PCSC 56.02 56.76
r:+0.62 27.38 56.76 (29.38)
Men’s 100 Freestyle
While the finals picture Tuesday night was clear, the path forward is similarly muddled on the men’s side, where three swimmers have A cuts. Joshua Liendo added his name to the list in the night session, bossing the final to win in 48.13 seconds, well under the A standard of 48.57 and the fastest for a Canadian man this cycle.
Joshua Liendo; Photo Courtesy: Scott Grant/Swimming Canada
“That was really surreal, that race,” Liendo said. “A lot of things changed pretty quickly. I’m happy with how I’m adapted. I just got out there and swam it my best, gave it my all. I’m happy with the way that turned out.”
Yuri Kisil, who got his A cut in the morning at 48.43, scratched the final. So did Brent Hayden, who finished eighth in prelims, due to back pain. Hayden has an A cut of 48.47.
Three A cuts bodes well for the relays, but it makes the selection picture for the individual event tough. The 100 free is the only A cut for Kisil. Hayden won the 50 free Monday night. Liendo has A cuts in the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 free.
Second in the race was Ruslan Gaziev, stating his case for a Tokyo relay spot in 48.81. Third was Markus Thormeyer, the likely front-runner for that fourth relay berth, in 49.24. Javier Acevedo was fourth.
The three A cuts might make it hard on the selectors for the Games. But it’s indicative of how the Canadian sprint program, energized by Hayden’s late-career resurgence and Liendo’s rising profile at age 18, is able to push itself forward.
“Once someone else goes fast, you definitely get motivated,” Liendo said. “These are people that you see all the time, that you train with. 100 percent you feed off that energy. Yesterday, watching Finlay Knox go that 1:58.1 (in the 200 IM), just filled me with so much energy, especially the young guys, too, making the team. That really pumps me up. I love seeing that.”
Event 22 Men 100 LC Meter Freestyle
==================================================================
CANADIAN: N 47.27 2009-07-30Brent Hayden, UBCD
OLYMPIC A: A 48.57
Name Year Team Prelims Finals
==================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Liendo, Joshua 02 NYAC 49.24 48.13A
r:+0.66 22.88 48.13 (25.25)
2 Gaziev, Ruslan 99 ESWIM 48.92 48.81
r:+0.68 23.36 48.81 (25.45)
3 Thormeyer, Markus 97 UBCT 49.34 49.24
r:+0.73 24.06 49.24 (25.18)
4 Acevedo, Javier 98 AAC 49.99 49.32
r:+0.65 23.93 49.32 (25.39)
5 Knox, Finlay 01 SCAR 50.03 49.79
r:+0.68 24.02 49.79 (25.77)
6 Calkins, Stephen 98 UCSC 49.60 49.88
r:+0.67 23.74 49.88 (26.14)
7 Pratt, Cole 02 CASC 50.22 50.11
r:+0.72 24.62 50.11 (25.49)
8 Olafson, Carson 97 UBCT 50.24 50.26
r:+0.69 24.09 50.26 (26.17)
9 Marcoux, Philippe 99 UL 50.32 50.93
r:+0.65 24.11 50.93 (26.82)
-- Kisil, Yuri 95 WS 48.43 NS
Damn, USA has their work cut out for them!
Thank you Swimming World for your super coverage of all the Olympic Trials in recent weeks. It has been entertaining and informative, with insider knowledge and great interviews / quotes that are not always on a certain other website (which posts irritating videos interspersed with pointless ‘crackling noises.’)
My only grouse is that you get someone to fix this comments board to prevent all these multiple posts – I have no wish to see this 20 times! lol