Penny Oleksiak sets Canadian record in 100m freestyle semifinals

Penny Oleksiak is fast becoming a star for Canada in the pool as she posts a Canadian best record for the 100m freestyle in her semifinal heat to finish second and advance to the final at Rio.

Canadian Penny Oleksiak continued her strong showing at Rio 2016 by putting up an excellent time and qualifying for the women’s 100-metre freestyle final.

Oleksiak set a Canadian record with a time of 52.72 seconds, nearly a full second faster than the 53.53 she swam in the heats earlier in the day. The 16-year-old won a silver medal in the women’s 100-metre butterfly earlier in the Games.

Swimming Canada on Twitter

Fellow Canadian Chantal Van Landeghem finished 10th and failed to qualify for the final.

Sportsnet.ca no longer supports comments.