Canadian Penny Oleksiak after winning silver after competing in the women's 100m butterfly final at Olympic Aquatics Stadium during the Rio Olympics August 7, 2016.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
The Canadian women's swimming team vowed it wasn't finished after capturing the country's first medal of the Rio Olympics this weekend, and Penny Oleksiak made good on that promise Sunday night with a stunning come-from-behind silver medal – Canada's second trip to the podium in as many days.
Ms. Oleksiak's time of 56.46 seconds was good for second in the 100-metre butterfly and shocked American Dana Vollmer, who settled for bronze in a time of 56.63. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, won gold in 55.48.
It capped a huge weekend for the Canadian women in the water.
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The first medals at any Olympics are always heaped with extra importance, whether that significance is real or imagined. Some athletes believe that one or two can set the tone, soothe jitters, and stave off criticism back home. It's as though getting into the medal standings early in the competition allows the Canadian team to exhale a bit, knowing that the nation won't be going home empty-handed.
But Canada's first few medals at the Rio Olympics, on the first and second days of competition, are an even bigger statement. The bronze medal won by the 4x100 women's relay team on Saturday, and the silver medal claimed Sunday, mark the return of women's swimming to the medal-winning landscape after a lengthy hiatus.
Ms. Oleksiak said she was nervous a few hours before the race, and was shaking in her hotel room, but the jitters subsided about 10 minutes before she swam.
"I think it was just the fact that we medalled [Saturday] night and I was like, oh, if I don't medal tonight, I'm going to let down Canada."
She said she never expected to win a medal.
"For sure not, no. Before trials I didn't even think I would make the team."
After winning the bronze medal Saturday night, Ms. Oleksiak said she didn't get much rest before her race.
"I only got probably five hours of sleep last night. Just seeing everyone's reaction, especially on Twitter and Instagram and everything it's just been a great time for me."
The pool, where the country has won some of its most notable Summer Olympic medals over the years, has not been a kind or welcoming place to Canadian women in a very long time. The last time a women's medal was claimed in swimming, it was hung around the neck of Marianne Limpert, who took silver in the 200-metre individual medley in Atlanta.
That was 20 years and a few generations of swimmers ago. And so it was fitting then, when the first medal was claimed just before midnight Saturday in Rio, that Ms. Limpert sent a short e-mail to swimmers Sandrine Mainville, Oleksiak, Taylor Ruck, Chantal Van Landeghem and Michelle Williams.
It was only a few lines in length, but the congratulatory note was the passing of a torch from the last generation of medal-winning women to the current roster, which may only just be getting started.
"It's the first thing I read when I got my phone back," said Ms. Mainville, 24, who is from Boucherville, Que., and grew up idolizing Ms. Limpert. "It was a really special feeling."
The soul of this re-emergence of women's swimming was on full display in the relay event, where the Canadians relied on two 16-year-old rookies, Ms. Ruck and Ms. Oleksiak, to win the bronze. Neither were born when Canadian women last ascended the podium.
Ms. Oleksiak, who is from Toronto, anchored the race and managed to hold off Dutch rival Ranomi Kromowidjojo for the bronze, It was the first time in 40 years Canadian women had made the podium in that event. Canada's time of 3:32.89 was 2.24 seconds back of Australia, which won gold, and a second behind the second-place United States.
Ms. Oleksiak's medal was the first silver for Canadian women since Ms. Limpert.
Shortly before the relay on Saturday, Ms. Oleksiak was subbed in for Ms. Williams, showing how quickly the 16-year-old has risen up the Canadian swimming ladder after arriving on the scene this year.
"There's great talent that sort of comes around once every century or so," Ms. Williams said. "And for Canada to have two 16-year-olds on an Olympic medal-winning relay is unheard of but so exciting because they're ours, and we have them for how many more years because they're so young."
Missing her chance to swim in the final was difficult, said Ms. Williams, 25. But her emotions ran higher when she stood poolside cheering Ms. Oleksiak during the final leg. "So many emotions were going through me," she said. "Tears was one of them."
Ms. Oleksiak and Ms. Ruck form the core of a women's swimming program that now has its eyes fixed on the Tokyo Games in 2020.
"That's going to be one to watch," said Ms. Ruck, who was born in Kelowna, B.C. and now lives in Arizona. After taking her medal back to the athlete's village, she said she wore it for a while and then hid it somewhere in her room, afraid that it may be stolen as she slept. "Just in case," she said.
Ms. Van Landeghem, 22, hopes having a few early medals on the board from the women in Rio will set the tone for Canadian team at these Games, particularly the swimmers.
"I think it takes a little bit of pressure off," said the swimmer from Winnipeg.
"Coming into these Games, there was talk about how long it had been since women's swimming had won a medal. I also think it kind of fuels the fire, if we can keep this ball rolling there's going to be some great performances."
Grant Robertson