United States' Dana Vollmer, centre, leads Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen, right, and Canada's Penny Oleksiak, left, in the the third leg of the women's 4x100 meter medley relay final during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Jin-man Lee/The Associated Press
Penny Oleksiak's bid to become the most decorated Canadian Olympic swimmer in history fell short Saturday night as the women's team placed fifth in the 4x100 medley relay.
It was a disappointing finish for the Canadians who, after a six-medal haul at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, had grown accustomed to standing on the podium.
"We have been riding such a high and we've come to expect now that we can medal in a lot of races," said Chantal Van Landeghem, who swam the anchor leg of the race. "That was the expectation going in tonight. And so disappointment happens and we just have to learn from it and keep moving forward here."
The Canadian women, who had claimed two relay medals in the past week, finished in a time of 3:55.49 seconds. The United States won gold with a time of 3:53.13, while Australia took the silver in 3:55.00. Denmark claimed bronze in 3:55.01.
After an electrifying four-medal performance in Rio, Oleksiak was vying for a fifth trip to the podium with the relay team. A win would have put her alone among Canadian swimmers, moving ahead of the Victor Davis, who also won four Olympic medals.
Following the race, Oleksiak said she wasn't feeling fatigue after a long week where she raced in several tense races, often on back-to-back days with as little as five hours sleep some nights.
"I'm going to be taking a few weeks off after this, and I'm just going to try and not think about swimming or anything for a little bit," Oleksiak said. "I think I'm just going to try and keep a low profile… and hang out with my friends and everything."
At the age of 16, the Olympic rookie will have more chances to add to her medal count. The swimmer from Toronto is expected to play a key role in Canada's medal hopes at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and in 2024.
"I'm probably going to start thinking about 2020 as soon as I start the next season," she said.
Oleksiak was also looking to tie speed skater Cindy Klassen for the most trips to the podium by a Canadian in one Olympics. Klassen won five medals at the 2006 Turin Winter Games.
Even without a medal in their final race, the women exceeded expectations in Rio. Heading in, Canadian officials were hoping to claim a total of five or six medals from the women and men combined, said Ahmed El-Awadi, chief executive officer of Swimming Canada.
In addition to the two relay bronzes the women are taking home, Oleksiak claimed a gold in the 100-metre freestyle and a silver in the 100-metre butterfly. Kylie Masse took bronze in the 100-metre backstroke, and Hilary Caldwell notched a bronze in the 200-metre backstroke.
While the six-medal performance was more than expected from the women, the men walk away from Rio unexpectedly empty-handed. Earlier in the night, Victoria swimmer Ryan Cochrane, who came to Rio hoping to win a third medal in the 1,500-metre freestyle, placed sixth in that event. Cochrane, who won silver in that race in London in 2012, and bronze in 2008 in Beijing, said he was unhappy with his performance.
Van Landeghem said the loss in the relay, Canada's final swimming event in Rio, was also hard to take.
"I think we all thought we all had a chance to get on the podium, but mostly [I'm] just so proud to wear the maple leaf and to be on the team with three amazing girls," she said. "We all killed ourselves tonight, we did everything we could. It just unfortunately wasn't enough."
Van Landeghem said Oleksiak took the race particularly hard.
"I think we're all just a little bit tired," she said. "I mean, Penny had an amazing week, obviously. She swam so many times, and I know she's been pretty hard on herself after that race, but we all swam our hearts out and that's all we can ask."