Primary Country (Mandatory)

Other Country (Optional)

Set News Language for United States

Primary Language (Mandatory)
Other Language[s] (Optional)
No other language available

Set News Language for World

Primary Language (Mandatory)
Other Language(s) (Optional)

Set News Source for United States

Primary Source (Mandatory)
Other Source[s] (Optional)

Set News Source for World

Primary Source (Mandatory)
Other Source(s) (Optional)
  • Countries
    • India
    • United States
    • Qatar
    • Germany
    • China
    • Canada
    • World
  • Categories
    • National
    • International
    • Business
    • Entertainment
    • Sports
    • Special
    • All Categories
  • Available Languages for United States
    • English
  • All Languages
    • English
    • Hindi
    • Arabic
    • German
    • Chinese
    • French
  • Sources
    • India
      • AajTak
      • NDTV India
      • The Hindu
      • India Today
      • Zee News
      • NDTV
      • BBC
      • The Wire
      • News18
      • News 24
      • The Quint
      • ABP News
      • Zee News
      • News 24
    • United States
      • CNN
      • Fox News
      • Al Jazeera
      • CBSN
      • NY Post
      • Voice of America
      • The New York Times
      • HuffPost
      • ABC News
      • Newsy
    • Qatar
      • Al Jazeera
      • Al Arab
      • The Peninsula
      • Gulf Times
      • Al Sharq
      • Qatar Tribune
      • Al Raya
      • Lusail
    • Germany
      • DW
      • ZDF
      • ProSieben
      • RTL
      • n-tv
      • Die Welt
      • Süddeutsche Zeitung
      • Frankfurter Rundschau
    • China
      • China Daily
      • BBC
      • The New York Times
      • Voice of America
      • Beijing Daily
      • The Epoch Times
      • Ta Kung Pao
      • Xinmin Evening News
    • Canada
      • CBC
      • Radio-Canada
      • CTV
      • TVA Nouvelles
      • Le Journal de Montréal
      • Global News
      • BNN Bloomberg
      • Métro
What does Penny Oleksiak's withdrawal mean for Canada's relay chances at swim world championships?

What does Penny Oleksiak's withdrawal mean for Canada's relay chances at swim world championships?

CBC
Sunday, July 13, 2025 01:56:00 PM UTC

Less than a month ago, just days before her 25th birthday, Canada's most decorated female Olympian stood on the pool deck of Commonwealth Place in Victoria with a smile stretching across her face.

Penny Oleksiak had just completed a successful national swimming trials, winning  both the 50- and 100-metre freestyle events and being named to Canada's team for this month's world championships in Singapore.

Oleksiak beamed as she talked about her newfound love of swimming and how excited she was for all the racing she was about to do this summer. 

"I actually want to be on the pool deck and in the water, race and be competitive and I'm having fun," she said in mid-June. "It feels so nice and it's showing in my times, my skin, it shows. I'm happy."

WATCH | What is a 'whereabouts' violation? 

There was a sense from Swimming Canada officials, swimmers and fans alike who watched Oleksiak in and out of the pool throughout trials that this was a new athlete — focused, ready for this next chapter and embracing the challenge of finding peak form once again. 

That all came crashing down last Friday when Oleksiak took to social media, posting on her own Instagram page that she was involved in a "whereabouts" case with World Aquatics and that she was withdrawing from the world championships.

"I want to emphasize that this whereabouts case does not involve any banned substance; it's about whether I updated my information correctly," Oleksiak wrote. "I am and always have been a clean athlete and will be making no further comment at this time."

Shortly after Oleksiak's post, Swimming Canada sent out its own statement. 

"Swimming Canada is in full support of Penny's decision and we believe she is a clean athlete who made an administrative mistake. We wish her well and look forward to seeing her back in the pool," said Swimming Canada CEO Suzanne Paulins.

Athlete Whereabouts is part of the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) drug testing program. Selected athletes must provide a daily 60-minute availability window, 90 days in advance, to be tested, no matter where in the world they might be. If an athlete submits "late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts that lead to them being unavailable for testing, [they] may receive a Filing Failure," according to World Aquatics.  

Any combination of three filing failures or missed tests within 12-months could result in a two-year ban.

In her statement Oleksiak said her situation involved whether or not she updated her information correctly. If she's worried, she's not showing it. On Sunday, she posted on her Instagram a picture of her on a beach with the caption: "All sunshine and smiles over here."

Canada's Ruslan Gaziev just returned from a Whereabouts ban that kept him out of competition for 18 months, including missing the Paris Olympics.  

Read full story on CBC
Share this story on:-
More Related News
Canada draws Switzerland, Qatar and spectre of Italy as World Cup groups revealed

The men’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. was going well for Canada until Pot 4.

Explainer: How does FIFA divide 48-team Men’s World Cup field in groups?

The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place Friday at 12 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington, for the purpose of dividing the 48-team field into 12 groups of four. Once the tournament starts, 32 teams will advance from those preliminary groups to the single-elimination knockout rounds.

Canada's best- and worst-case scenarios for Friday's FIFA World Cup draw

The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., buzzed with activity and speculation on Thursday in advance of Friday’s all-important draw for the 2026 men’s World Cup. 

Marathon meetings next week will decide bulk of Canadian men's Olympic hockey team

By the time the management group for the Canadian men’s national hockey team emerges from marathon meetings on Tuesday, as much as 80 per cent of the roster going to Italy next February should be written in pen.

Olympics at stake: Canadian ski mountaineering team set for winner-take-all race vs. U.S.

Canada’s ski mountaineering athletes have their Olympic dreams on the line this weekend at a World Cup event in Solitude, Utah.

Carter Hart, acquitted in Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, returns to NHL Tuesday with Golden Knights

Goalie Carter Hart, one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July, will make his first NHL appearance in nearly two years when he starts in goal Tuesday night for the Vegas Golden Knights, who host Chicago.

25 players named to roster for final women's hockey Rivalry Series games

The Canadian women’s hockey team will bring back plenty of familiar faces for its final pre-Olympic games in Edmonton next week.

Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod diagnosed with breast cancer

Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod has been diagnosed with breast cancer, the team announced Sunday.

© 2008 - 2025 Webjosh  |  News Archive  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us