Penny Oleksiak healing from knee surgery, not yet ready to race | CBC sport

Penny Oleksiak feels ahead of schedule in her recovery from knee surgery, but Canada’s star swimmer is unwilling to join her teammates to compete in a World Cup at her home pool in Toronto.

Nearly two months after her meniscus tear repair, Oleksiak is back in the water and recently ditched the knee brace she’s worn on land and in the water.

“I got things done just a little bit earlier than everyone was expecting, which is nice, but I feel like I did everything I could to make sure I could be ahead of schedule,” Oleksiak told The Canadian Press .

Their Canadian teammates race in the second leg of the World Cup from Friday through Sunday at the Pan Am Center in Toronto. The first stage took place in Berlin and the third in Indianapolis from November 3rd to 5th.

Oleksiak will not step on the starting blocks in her hometown. She will cheer for you at the pool.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing them all,” said Oleksiak. “I think it’s just going to be a really fun weekend.”

CLOCK | What is Penny Oleksiak doing so fast in the pool?:

The 22-year-old’s seven medals – one gold, two silver and four bronze – make her the most decorated Olympian in Canadian history.

Oleksiak helped her country win four relay medals at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in June, to bring her career at the event to a record nine for a Canadian swimmer.

She was about to leave for Tanzania and climb Kilimanjaro at the end of the summer to raise funds for global hunger when her knee spread.

The meniscus is a piece of rubbery cartilage in the knee between the femur and tibia.

Oleksiak is unsure of the origin of the injury, although massage therapists previously told her fluid had pooled in her knee.

“I think it was something that was a long time coming,” said Oleksiak. “I was sitting on the floor in an apartment I rented in Orlando and I got up and couldn’t walk on it.”

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced them out of the pool for long stretches, but the difference was that their teammates were in the same predicament.

The fact that she could not do any training in the two weeks after the operation was stressful for her.

“I watched everyone else get back into training and I just had to wait,” said Oleksiak. “That was terrifying.

“I’ve never had to just sit around with nothing to do. I had to work a lot with my therapist. Even before my surgery I told her I needed to book some appointments because I knew it was going to happen )”

Oleksiak battled through a back injury and won a freestyle bronze and two relay medals at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, but the experience felt different.

“It’s definitely a learning curve because this is my first injury and surgery,” she said. “It kind of forced me to slow down and focus on what my swimming priorities are at the moment.

“It was fun to work on myself mentally and also physically in a way that I wouldn’t normally do. I had to be kind of creative and find new ways of training and find new things that are interesting to me.”

She intends to climb Kilimanjaro next year to continue her fundraising efforts.

“I think it’s such an important reason whether I’m climbing this year or not,” said Oleksiak.

With no major international championships in sight, Oleksiak is yet to feel the clock ticking on a return to racing.

Fukuoka, Japan will host the 2023 World Cup next July. The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Paris.

“I didn’t really set a fixed schedule,” said Oleksiak. “I’m just taking some time to come back.

“I’m always looking at the Olympics, so 2024 is my ultimate goal for me.”