Penny Oleksiak powers Canadian women to 1st medal of Tokyo Olympics | CBC Sports

It was also the Canadian swimmers who won the country’s first medal in Rio five years ago — Oleksiak anchored the team there as well.

“I just knew I wasn’t going to touch third,” Oleksiak said immediately following the race. “And when I make a decision in the race I have to execute it, so I wanted a silver medal for these girls and I wanted it so bad I wouldn’t accept anything else.

WATCH | Canada wins 1st medal of Tokyo 2020:

Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil, Rebecca Smith, Kayla Sanchez won Canada’s first medal of Tokyo 2020, claiming a silver medal in the women’s 4×100-metre freestyle relay, while Australia set a new world record. 12:55

Kayla Sanchez started the relay for Canada, surging through the water and setting the stage for Maggie Mac Neil. 

Find live streams, must-watch video highlights, breaking news and more in one perfect Olympic Games package. Following Team Canada has never been easier or more exciting.

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“It’s a lot of pressure and I can choose to let it affect me or I can choose to step up and do what I needed to do for these girls,” Sanchez said.

Mac Neil, who about an hour earlier swam in the 100 butterfly semifinal, held her own through her part of the race before Rebecca Smith launched off the blocks and into the pool.

Then it was time for Oleksiak. She’s known for rising up in the big moments and she did it again in Tokyo. 

Oleksiak powered through the final length, dragging Canada out of fourth place and touching the wall just three one-hundredths of a second before Simone Manuel of the United States for silver.

Canada completed its relay in three minutes 32.78 seconds, behind Australia who won gold in a world-record time of 3:29.69. The Americans took bronze in 3:32.81.

The group of four Canadian women embraced one another inside the mostly empty venue, their emotion clearly evident as they basked in the moment.

It was a quick turnaround for the Canadian team who, about 12 hours earlier, qualified for the final by posting the third-fastest time in semis.

Training challenges shook off

Coming into the swimming competition, Canadian swimmers and coaches talked about the challenging conditions they’ve faced over the last 15 months — many have said no other country in the world were impacted in the pool like the Canadians.

Some Canadian swimmers had to leave their usual training spots and change their entire programs, including coaches and venue, just to be able to prepare for the Olympics. 

There were concerns the challenge would be too steep, that maybe Canada’s swimmers wouldn’t be able to deliver in Tokyo like they did five years ago in Rio. 

The expectations were tempered.

But on Sunday in Tokyo, the Canadians showed their resilience. 

And the pool party has begun.

WATCH | Canadian swimmers faced tough training conditions in pandemic:

Canada is in a golden age of swimming with multiple medal contenders heading to Tokyo. But the pandemic may be the biggest challenge between them and the podium. 11:18