Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak answers questions during a press conference at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, in this file photo from July 19, 2019.
Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press
A Michael Phelps book recommendation resonates with Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak more than ever these days.
Oleksiak has read Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now multiple times since the American swim legend suggested the title to her.
The 19-year-old dove back into the book when the COVID-19 pandemic forced her out of the pool in March and into confinement in her Toronto apartment.
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“I feel like I could recite the whole book by now,” Oleksiak told The Canadian Press on Monday. “Michael Phelps actually recommended it to me.f
“The first time I read it, I became obsessed with it. I just teaches you to live now and be present with everything that’s going on in your life.”
At age 16, Oleksiak was Canada’s swimming sensation at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
She won four medals, including gold in the 100-metre freestyle, while Phelps capped his decorated career with five gold medals there.
The pandemic has Oleksiak, who normally spends almost every day in a swimming pool, constructing a life without it.
“I haven’t really touched water in quite some time,” the teenager said.
With the 2020 Tokyo Games postponed to next year and her training facilities closed to prevent the spread of the virus, Oleksiak rides the stationary bike on her apartment balcony and lifts weights in her living room every morning.
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She reads, cooks, conducts fashion experiments in her closet and thinks about what will make her swim fast in Tokyo in 2021.
“I’m pretty much just trying to get as much training in as I can in my apartment, but also trying to be as positive as I can be, use this time to really do stuff I never really have the time to do or put my focus in other places right now,” Oleksiak said.
That includes getting involved with food banks, an opportunity that came up when Oleksiak’s face was recently put on a cereal box.
It’s now tradition for General Mills to adorn Cheerios boxes with photos of Canada’s Olympic stars in the months prior to a Summer or Winter Olympics. The combination of the pandemic, the Tokyo postponement and the cereal boxes already produced prompted the company to pivot and pair the pictured athletes with people who work in food banks.
General Mills is donating $500,000 in cash and $600,000 in product to Food Banks Canada. The company is also repurposing purchased ad time earmarked for athlete endorsements to promote food bank workers.
The Oleksiak edition box en route to store shelves is linked to a digital box featuring Lori McRitchie, who is the executive director of the food bank in Airdrie, Alta. The two women had a video meet and greet recently. Oleksiak will introduce McRitchie on social media later this week.
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“She’s, like, the sweetest lady I think I’ve ever met,” Oleksiak said. “She broke down what she does.
“It was awesome to talk to her and learn about it. Food banks and the importance of them, that wasn’t something I’d ever learned much about.”
Said McRitchie: “It was kind of a learning for us both. She didn’t know a lot about food banks. I didn’t know a lot about her, but it was a really cool conversation.”
Airdrie Food Bank usage increased by 50 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, McRitchie said, mainly because of demand in the early stages of the pandemic in March.
“We anticipate we will maintain this 50 per cent over normal and maybe even higher as time goes on, before the re-entry happens and businesses are still mostly shut down,” McRitchie said.
“Everyone needs to feel they matter in all of this. That’s a message Penny will share, that you can make a difference and we all have a part to play in getting through these times.”
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Sprint star Andre De Grasse, trampoline gymnast Rosie MacLennan, skateboarder Matt Berger and diver Jennifer Abel have also been paired with food bank staff.
“Sometimes you do have to take a step back because there are more important things going on in the world,” Oleksiak said.
“Talking to people like Lori shows you this is bigger than swimming right now, this is bigger than sport right now.”
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TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
