Penny Oleksiak Pulls Out of TYR Pro Swim Series to Continue Rehab
Penny Oleksiak has pulled out of the TYR Pro Swim Series stop in Knoxville this week as she continues her quest to regain full health.
While no injury was specified, a Swimming Canada spokesperson said that Oleksiak “is working with team physicians and her coach to determine the best time to return to competition.”
The Knoxville meet was one option for Oleksiak to return, though instead she is training through the meet and will travel with a High Performance Center delegation on a training trip to Florida with the intent of returning to competition soon.
Oleksiak has gone through myriad physical challenges in recent years. The 2016 gold medalist in the 100 freestyle in Rio at just 16 years of age, Oleksiak revealed at the Tokyo Olympics that she had been dealing with consistent (at times debilitating) pain in her back. She tore the meniscus in her left knee last August.
Still just 22, Oleksiak is the most decorated Olympic athlete, summer or winter, in Canadian history. She won bronze in the 200 free in Tokyo in 2021 to go with silver in the 400 free relay and bronze in the 400 medley relay. She also helped Canada win four relay medals at the FINA World Championships in 2022, including silver in the women’s 500 free and silver in the mixed 400 free.
The Pro Swim Series was supposed to be the first significant meet for Oleksiak since Worlds. (She was slated to swim at the Commonwealth Games before passing on the meet.) She has shown in the past to be a swimmer who prioritizes quality over quantity in the meets she chooses to compete at, and the 2024 Paris Olympics is the overwhelming priority on how she’ll craft her scheduled over the next 18 months.
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