Extraordinary Women: Penny Oleksiak

I want to thank that teacher in high school who told me to stop swimming to focus on school bc swimming wouldn’t get me anywhere. This is what dreams are made of,

​~ Penny Oleksiak

Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak stuck it to the high school teacher who said her sport “wouldn’t get me anywhere life.”

While the seven-time Olympic medalist has been dominating in Tokyo, she decided to Google “Canada’s most decorated Olympian,” to which her name popped up in the search results.

“I want to thank that teacher in high school who told me to stop swimming to focus on school bc swimming wouldn’t get me anywhere. This is what dreams are made of,” Oleksiak tweeted Tuesday, just days after medaling in two events.

Oleksiak won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay at the Summer Games.

In a second tweet, Oleksiak clarified she meant “no shade” to those who are teachers.

“Also in reference to my last tweet no shade at all towards teachers in general, my sister is a teacher and I see her inspiring kids everyday.. Most of my teachers saw the vision and pushed me towards it,” she explained, noting, “That one who constantly dragged me down though, WOAT.”

“I felt SO confident, loved and supported at this one and I left being motivated for the next. There are no words to describe how it feels to represent Canada, but I wouldn’t want to be the most decorated Olympian anywhere else in the world,” she captioned her post, which thanked her fans and sponsors.
Canada’s most decorated Olympian took home gold in Rio at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 100m freestyle — as well as silver in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays.

As the Toronto native just turned 21 in June, her career appears to be far from over.
​
~ Jenna Lemoncelli, New York Post