By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
Canadian Olympic star Penny Oleksiak denied drug use and mentioned her whereabouts failure was a “real mistake”, whereas she confirmed her plans to proceed coaching by her two-year suspension in an interview with CBC.
In July, Oleksiak withdrew from the 2025 World Championships as a result of an ongoing Whereabouts case, although no suspension had been formally handed down. Just a few weeks later, the Worldwide Testing Company confirmed that she was serving a voluntary provisional 12-month suspension.
In November, the ITA introduced that Oleksiak had accepted a two-year suspension, starting from July 15, 2025, which was when she started serving her provisional suspension, and ending July 14, 2027.
On Tuesday, CBC posted an unique interview with Oleksiak the place she mentioned the entire course of, and confirmed her plans to coach for the 2028 Olympic Video games in Los Angeles.
Oleksiak has maintained for the reason that starting that she has by no means used any performance-enhancing medication, writing in her unique Instagram submit “I’m and all the time have been a clear athlete.”
Within the CBC interview, she acknowledged, “It’s by no means been me to do performance-enhancing medication and even take into consideration doing performance-enhancing medication.”
She took accountability for the Whereabouts violations, saying, “I did do one thing flawed on the finish of the day, and it’s one thing that I do have remorse round.” She went on to say it was only a mistake and he or she wasn’t making an attempt to dodge testing officers. “It’s simply real errors is basically all I can chalk it as much as. It’s irritating figuring out that I’ve that accountability and that I wasn’t capable of pull it to the requirements that I usually would.”
A Whereabouts Case is an Anti-Doping Rule Violation that may have an effect on athlete eligibility even when they’ve by no means taken a banned substance. The World Anti-Doping Code defines a Whereabouts failure as any mixture of three missed exams or submitting failures in a 12-month interval.
Athletes who’re members of the “Registered Testing Pool” which is the best tier of athlete testing, are required to report an correct and up-to-date submitting of their whereabouts always. That is to allow them to be drug examined at any time and anyplace with no advance discover.
Based on World Aquatics, if an athlete within the testing pool submits “late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts that result in [them] being unavailable for testing, [they] could obtain a Submitting Failure.”
Registered Testing Pool athletes are additionally topic to Missed Assessments, which is when they aren’t obtainable for a drug take a look at throughout a 60-minute time slot. Any mixture of three Submitting Failures or Missed Assessments inside 12 months might lead to a two-year ban.
Oleksiak mentioned that she was frequently drug examined at meets and at house, and he or she was not sure if she had two Whereabouts strikes when her third missed take a look at occurred. “After I had missed my second take a look at, I hadn’t been given a concrete reply on if it was a missed take a look at of not till after I had missed my third one.”
Based on the Aquatics Integrity Unit, run by World Aquatics, Oleksiak was examined not less than 3 times between the Olympics and the tip of 2024, twice by World Aquatics and as soon as by one other company. In 2024 as a complete, she obtained not less than eight drug exams, 5 from World Aquatics and three from different sources.
Her three missed exams occurred between October 2024 and June 2025, with the third take a look at coming simply days after the 2025 Canadian World Staff Trials.
She mentioned transient conditions surrounding her missed exams, saying the second take a look at occurred when she went to apply within the morning as a substitute of the afternoon like regular, and her hour check-in occurred whereas she was there.
The third missed take a look at occurred after the Canadian Swimming Trials. Oleksiak mentioned she flew to Montreal for the weekend after she was performed competing, her final day of competitors was June tenth.
“I used to be known as as much as do some stuff for work. I’ve made a very huge level to attempt to earn cash outdoors of simply my swimming profession and help my swimming profession, and it’s one thing I sort of need to do to have the ability to help what I wish to do. I used to be out performing some work obligations and awakened one morning a number of days after my birthday [June 13th] and I had a missed name and I knew instantly what it was,” she mentioned.
Oleksiak went on to speak about criticism she has confronted concerning her social media, which reveals her at completely different capabilities, charity occasions and on holidays with folks claiming she doesn’t take swimming significantly. She mentioned “I’m continuously figuring out. I’m continuously swimming.”
She moved her coaching base to Los Angeles in September of 2023, and whereas she thought of retirement when the suspension was introduced, she determined to proceed coaching, though it will be difficult.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be a simple path ahead, however that’s additionally one thing I’ve sort of been used to. My entire profession is just not taking the simple path…All I can do is simply get stronger, get quicker, and that’s all I’m actually striving in the direction of at this level.”
As a result of guidelines round coaching throughout a suspension, Oleksiak is just not allowed to swim with a nationwide crew, membership crew, or a coach, and her coaching should be performed at public swimming pools slightly than personal or membership amenities.
She mentioned “It’s fairly troublesome. I feel you don’t find out about it till it occurs to you, and also you don’t actually understand the repercussions of it till it occurs to you. I’m not allowed to have a coach. I’m not allowed to coach with my teammates…I’m now simply sort of remoted.”
She is at the moment going to public swimming pools throughout open swim instances, and coaching alone.
Oleksiak’s aim is the 2028 Olympics, and he or she mentioned “I can solely anticipate and anticipate good issues to return from L.A., and I’m simply so excited. I feel the height of Canadian swimming goes to be L.A. 2028. We’ve a lot expertise arising and such an thrilling crew and I simply can’t wait to be part of it.”
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