Skip to content

Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak narrowly misses eighth world championship medal

20220623120620-62b493988785dcd85da779dfjpeg
Penny Oleksiak of Canada competes during her women's 200m freestyle heat at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, June 20, 2022. Oleksiak narrowly missed out on a third medal at the 2022 world aquatics championships with a fourth-place finish Thursday in the women's 100-metre freestyle. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Petr David Josek

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Penny Oleksiak narrowly missed out on a third medal at the 2022 world aquatics championships with a fourth-place finish Thursday in the women's 100-metre freestyle.

Oleksiak, from Toronto, was third at the turn, but finished .06 seconds off the podium in a time of 52.98 seconds.

Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan finished first in 52.67 seconds to pick up her second gold medal in Budapest, and fourth overall.

World-record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden was second (52.80) and Torri Huske of the United States was third (52.92).

Toronto's Kayla Sanchez was sixth (53.59).

"It’s a bit frustrating to get fourth again," said Oleksiak, referring to her result at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. ‘"I missed another turn which is really annoying. But I put everything into it, so I can’t be too mad."

Canada had another medal chance come up short later Thursday when Winnipeg's Kelsey Wog finished fourth in the women's 200-metre breaststroke.

"’Fourth is fourth but I’m really proud of my effort," Wog said. "I've been really focused on finishing strong and getting my stroke rate up on that last 50."

Oleksiak swam the anchor leg to help Canada win bronze in the women's 4x200 freestyle relay, giving her seven career world championship medals.

That is tied for the most by a Canadian with Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., who has also won two medals (gold in the women's 50-metre backstroke, silver in the 100 backstroke) in Budapest.

Oleksiak helped Canada win silver in the women's 4x100 freestyle relay Saturday on the opening day of the event.

Wog, a silver medallist in the 200 breaststroke at the 2016 short-course world championships in Windsor, Ont., finished her race Thursday in a time of two minutes 23.86 seconds.

Lilly King of the United States finished first in 2:22.41, followed by Australia's Jenna Strauch (2:23.04) and American Kate Douglass (2:23.20).

Joshua Liendo of Markham, Ont., advanced to two finals, qualifying third in the men's 100-metre butterfly and 50-metre freestyle.

"The 100 fly was a little tougher than I wanted it to be and the 50 free felt good," said Liendo, who won bronze in the 100 freestyle on Wednesday. ‘’I’m happy with both swims."

Masse will swim for a third medal Friday after qualifying in sixth place for the 200 backstroke final.

"Hopefully I can sneak in there and do a lot better in the final," Masse said. "It’s a long meet doing all three backstrokes but I try to manage it all and reset for a new day."

Canada has seven medals (two gold, three silver, two bronze) so far at the world championships.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.

The Canadian Press


Looking for National Sports News?

VillageReport.ca viewed on a mobile phone

Check out Village Report - the news that matters most to Canada, updated throughout the day.  Or, subscribe to Village Report's free newsletter: a compilation of the news you need to know, sent to your inbox at 6AM.

Subscribe