Penny Oleksiak

Penny Oleksiak is a competitive swimmer and Canada’s youngest Olympic gold medallist ever. Learning how to swim at nine years old, Penny initially didn’t make the cut when she tried to join three different competitive clubs in Toronto, but eventually found her place at another club in the city and trained hard. A few short years later, Penny was competing at a national and global level, winning numerous medals at competitions. 

She made it to her first Olympic games, Rio 2016, at 16 years old. Penny took home four medals, including a gold in the 100-m freestyle, which set an Olympic record, a Canadian record, and a World Junior record. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021), Penny won three more medals — bringing her total to seven — and in doing so, she became Canada’s most decorated Olympian ever.