Swimmer Penny Oleksiak banned from competition until 2027 as part of anti-doping regulations

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Swimmer Penny Oleksiak, Canada's most decorated female Olympian, has accepted a two-year ban from competition stemming from three whereabouts failures and will be ineligible to compete until July 14, 2027.

Selected athletes must provide daily 60-minute availability window, 90 days in advance, to be tested

CBC Sports

· Posted: Nov 25, 2025 12:25 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

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A women's swimmer uses her hands to adjust the goggles on her swim cap.

Swimmer Penny Oleksiak, Canada's most decorated female Olympian, has accepted a two-year ban from competition stemming from three whereabouts failures.

Oleksiak's period of ineligibility extends to July 14, 2027, with the ban applied retroactively to this past July 15.

According to a release from the Aquatics Integrity Unit, the 25-year-old from Toronto will have any competitive results from June 16 onward disqualified, including forfeiture of medals, points, and prizes.

Athlete whereabouts is part of the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) drug testing program. Selected athletes must provide a daily 60-minute availability window, 90 days in advance, to be tested, no matter where in the world they might be. If an athlete submits "late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts that lead to them being unavailable for testing, [they] may receive a Filing Failure," according to World Aquatics.

WATCH | Oleksiak accepts 2-year ban:

Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak accepts 2-year suspension for 'whereabouts failures'

Swimmer Penny Oleksiak has accepted a two-year ban from competition stemming from three 'whereabouts failures.' Athlete whereabouts are part of the World Anti Doping Agency's drug-testing program. Selected athletes must provide a daily 60-minute availability window, 90 days in advance, to be tested, no matter where in the world they might be.

In July, after withdrawing from the world aquatics championships due to the whereabouts issue, Oleksiak said the matter "does not involve any banned substance" and added, "I am and always have been a clean athlete and will be making no further comment at this time."

Any combination of three filing failures or missed tests within 12-months could result in a two-year ban.

"We are committed to the enforcement and support of all anti-doping rules as outlined in the Canadian Anti-Doping Program and through World Aquatics and the World Anti-Doping Agency," Swimming Canada chief executive officer Suzanne Paulins said in a statement. "While we accept Penny's explanation these were inadvertent errors and she has not used banned substances, anti-doping regulations are in place to ensure a level playing field for all athletes.

"We will miss Penny on the national team and hope to see her back in the pool when she is eligible."

Oleksiak is a seven-time Olympic medallist and nine-time world championship medallist.

With files from The Canadian Press

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