Olympic hopefuls dazzled by Penny Oleksiak's gold

Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna may have been one of the most excited Penny Oleksiak fans when the King City, Ont. teen swam for gold on Thursday night. 

"I jumped off of the sofa, I was with my daughter, we were so excited," McKenna said. "It was so awesome."

McKenna grew up as a competitive swimmer and attended Olympic trials herself. 

Her excitement is being matched at swimming pools around the country. In Ottawa, the founder of ROC Swimming, Claudia Cronin-Schlote says Oleksiak's medal will inspire her young swimmers to go for gold too.

"They have more goals. They look at her and go, 'Oh yeah, this is something I would really like to do,'" Cronin-Schlote told CBC News. 

Eleven-year-old ROC swimmer Katie Ford trains four times a week. This year she finished in the top three at two regional meets. Her eyes light up when she talks about Oleksiak, an athlete only five years her senior. 

"I would love to be like her," Ford said. "It would be my dream come true to swim for Canada and win a gold medal."

Fellow swimmer Ali Roushdy, 13, hopes to represent either Canada or Egypt at a future Olympics. He's also been inspired by Penny Oleksiak's gold medal win. 

"It means a lot to us," he said, while hanging on to the side of the pool at Carleton University. "It's such an inspiration knowing that you could be such a young age and be a star of the world."

Coach Cronin-Schlote said the kids are looking at Oleksiak and learning. 

"They're looking at her breathing pattern and they're looking at her kick. And they know she only took one breath and ten strokes going in to the final finish of that 100 freestyle last night," Cronin-Schlote said. 

Roushdy was on the edge of his seat watching the race.

"At the start of the race I was, 'Aw come on Penny, come on.' But I knew she was saving her energy, and it was the right thing to do."

McKenna believes Oleksiak's gold will have a huge impact on children and not just on future Olympic swimmers. 

"It's not about everyone going to the Olympics. It's about kids getting active, it's about enjoying sport, it's about understanding the value of hard work and being hopeful," she said. 

"She's just such a great ambassador for youth. Today is International Youth Day. I can't think of a better youth to represent us on the world stage than Penny."