In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
We sat down with Penny Oleksiak, the Canadian Olympic champion who is gearing up for another run at the Games in 2021. Oleksiak was put in a unique position few find themselves in: being a full-on celebrity at age 16. Penny opens up about dealing with this pressure in and out of the pool over the last quad and explains how relating to Michael Phelps about this position has been helpful.
Penny also acknowledges why she chose not to participate in ISL this season after having been a member of Energy Standard in season 1 (one contributing factor: she hates short course).
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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
You all should really watch the whole podcast. She comes across as incredibly intelligent, composed, and straightforward. It sounds like Penny made the most of lockdown in a very healthy way. Really great interview, Coleman!
TLDR for the podcast: she got a book reccomendation from Phelps. Having read Phelps’ book, I wouldn’t mind having a direct line to him for book reccomendations.
Agreed the article is about Penny, let’s focus on that.
What Miss swimming says is true, he’s made mistakes in the past, but I truly believe he’s learned from them. He is a human being just like the rest of us, so let’s not throw too many stones at poor Michael. I can’t even count on two hands how many come back and redemption stories come from extremely talented athletes across all playing fields, football, basketball baseball and I could go on. He is the ultimate Swim star because of what he has done for our sport, look what he’s done for mental health awareness and we’re facing a global pandemic, which mental health is crucial. In my opinion he… Read more »
HAHA! “…article on Penny, let’s focus on that.”…. “…so about Michael….”
He is human, yes just like everybody else.
Ha… Article about Penny…100% of the comments about Phelps!
Best of luck to Penny this summer. It will be extremely difficult for her to repeat Rio individually with how competitive and fast her events are now. However she will be a huge part of 🇨🇦 relays that at very worst solid medal threats and at best if all the girls hit at the right time will challenge AUS and US for gold, even world records in the Free Relays….
Hope she follows his swimming advice and nothing else, terrible role model.
Let’s not forget that at 29 years old, after having already been fined and reprimanded for drunk driving, and being worth in excess of $50 million (could afford an uber, cab, limo and not even notice the dent in his bank account), this guy decided to get behind the wheel drunk again. We know of this one instance because it’s when he was caught, who knows how many times he decided other people’s lives were not worth minor inconvenience. Not someone we want kids looking up to.
That’s true, in sports these instances don’t matter when you’re a star.
LOL
We shouldn’t criticize where Michael was but applaud where he is now and where he’s going… His a loving husband and father and a tireless advocate for those with depression and mental health challenges.
And the only two-time DUIer to carry the Olympic flag in the opening ceremonies. If he’d been a black track athlete, he’d have been thrown to the curb.
One has nothing to do with the other. We know you don’t like the guy as you bring this up time and time again, but to throw the black athlete in there isn’t necessary unless of course you can cite an example where one had 2 DUI’s and was denied the opportunity.
I mean, I agree we should disapprove of those actions, remember and learn from them, but also acknowledge the steps he’s taken to improve himself since. He’s since been sober, become a husband and father, as well as created his own charity foundation. Stupid take.
Phelps has apologized for this profusely, and I am not excusing his actions in ANY way whatsoever, but I think this actually makes him an excellent role model because he can say, “Hey, look at what I did and DON’T do that,” while at the same time allowing her to learn from the great things he did during his career. Mentorship is not always about showing people the way to success, but also about showing them what is not a success.
You do not have to be a perfect person to be a great role model and have the interests of the next generation in your heart.
He now has his own foundation and promotes mental health and water safety. Plus he’s gotten a family since then. Nobody is perfect but I’d say he’s changed and is doing really good things for the community.
He has made adjustments to his life and clearly he is far away from that version of him. Unless you’ve lived a perfect life, shut up and let other people learn from mistakes and grow.
Maybe there are important life lessons and learnings that can be shared….
I get what you’re saying, but if anything, the fact that Michael went through some dark times and came out the other side all the better for it means he’s in a better position to help Penny (and others).
Phelps knows first hand what damage constant scrutiny and pressure from a young age can do to your mental wellbeing.
Put another way — say you’re struggling with alcoholism and substance abuse. Who’s gonna be able to help you more — someone who’s been teetotal and pretty perfect their entire life, or someone who lived through the same experience as you did but sorted themselves straight?
Or you know, Michael can use his experience to help others learn from and avoid his own mistakes…
@Mrs. Swimming— I guess I am going to assume that you have never had a sip of alcohol and drove afterwards due to your stance here 😀
Just to play devil’s advocate here, having a sip of alcohol & driving afterwards is not quite the same as going on a bender at a casino & then racing 80 mph through a 30mph tunnel. If Phelps were not a household name, not many people would have been supportive of giving him a third chance after that incident, in which he could easily have killed someone.
With that said, he has made the most of the opportunity for rehabilitation that he has been given, and has used his high profile to help a lot of other people avoid getting into similar trouble by raising awareness of mental health issues Role models are often flawed, but that doesn’t mean they… Read more »
This is a pretty ignorant and shallow take on a guy who you probably have no idea who he was outside of the water. Yea he got pulled over for drinking and driving as many people have in the past. But everyone has things they have done in the past, its how they address them in the future to help themselves and others is the real adversity here. He could have done nothing after that incident, but he didn’t. He stepped up and became a role model and raised awareness about mental health struggles. While many can’t always empathize with the superstar position, perhaps they are the ones who should be taking a deeper look at what really comes with… Read more »
Not many role models out there that can claim no sins.