Penny Oleksiak moving her training to California to prepare for Paris Olympics

Penny Oleksiak, Canada's most decorated Olympian, is taking her training south of the border to California to prepare for the Paris Olympics.

Oleksiak has joined the Mission Viejo pro group based out of the MVN 360 Performance Centre, about 80 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles, with less than 11 months to go until the next Games in an attempt to return to peak form for what would be her third Olympic appearance. 

"We are pleased to see Penny refocus on swimming after facing many challenges over the last year," John Atkinson told CBC Sports in a statement. 

Atkinson, Swimming Canada high performance director, said Oleksiak will continue to have the full support of the national sport organization to prepare for the swimming trials set for next May in Montreal.

"This includes medical and integrated support team services, which have been available to her at the High Performance Centre – Ontario, in partnership with the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario and Canadian Olympic Committee," Atkinson said. 

Oleksiak, 23, becomes another high-profile Canadian swimmer to have left the high performance centre in Ontario to train abroad – other swimmers training elsewhere include Kylie Masse, Josh Liendo, Taylor Ruck and Sydney Pickrem.

The majority of Oleksiak's career has been spent training in her hometown of Toronto. 

"We look forward to watching Penny return to competition in the water, and wish her all the best as she works towards a return to the national team," Atkinson said.

Oleksiak rose to stardom at 16 years old when she won four medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016, including gold in the 100-metre. 

She added three more medals at the Tokyo Olympics to make her the most decorated Olympian in the country with seven medals. 

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