Meet Penny Oleksiak: the youngest gold medallist in Canadian history

CTV News Channel: 'It's pretty great' Gold medallist Penny Oleksiak says the Rio Games surpassed all her expectations, and she is excited to get home.

She might be the youngest gold medallist in our country’s history and the first Canuck to win four medals at a single Summer Games, but 16-year-old Penny Oleksiak remains humbly Canadian to the core.

“I’ve just learned to expect the unexpected,” the Toronto-born swimmer told reporters in Rio on Sunday. “I didn’t expect to come to this meet and medal as much as I did, and I definitely didn’t think I’d make that many finals.”

Oleksiak, who was part of the team that won Canada’s first medal in the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay, went on to earn a gold in the 100-metre freestyle, a silver in the 100-metre butterfly and another bronze as part of the women’s 4x200 freestyle relay team.

“It’s really nice to know that you got Canada’s first medal and that you’ve set the tone for the rest of the Games,” Oleksiak said.

Since her string of wins, Oleksiak’s Twitter following has swelled from about 700 to more than 40,000 thousand – including a famous fellow Torontonian, Drake.

“I’ve seen a lot of people supporting me from Canada and I really like receiving all these messages,” she said. But Oleksiak doesn’t anticipate too many changes when she returns home.

“I don’t really know what to expect – I’m just going to go home and live my life,” Oleksiak said. “I try to just focus on my friends and my family and the people who’ve been there before any of this really happened.”

When asked about the secret to her stunning success in the pool, Oleksiak cited her long limbs, little frame and longstanding passion.

“I need to just love what I do, and right now, I really love swimming and it’s something I want to continue doing.”

The monotony of training can make the sport hard to love,” Oleksiak added. “But getting in your own lane to compete makes it all worthwhile.”

The star swimmer added, “the first thing I think about when I think about why I love swimming is definitely the racing.”

Oleksiak, who is already being hailed as one of the most decorated athletes in Canadian history, has a long career ahead of her.

“Personally, I just want to get faster and I want to keep progressing,” she said. “I just want to be able to keep getting better and whatever happens, happens.”