Toronto swimmer Penny Oleksiak, 15, punches ticket to Rio Olympics in record fashion

At just 15, Toronto's Penny Oleksiak has earned a spot on Canada's Olympic swimming team a remarkable feat for someone who onlystarted training five years ago.

Tuesday, Oleksiak beat the Canadian record for the 100-metre butterfly at the Canadian Olympic trials. Her swim, at 56.99 seconds,is the fifth fastest time in the event in the world so far this year.

"I feel like I'm dreaming right now. The Olympics? That's just crazy,"Oleksiak said after herrace.

But according to her coach, it's not a dream, it's just a start.

• Canadian Olympicswimming trials: Penny Oleksiak, Brittany MacLean set records

Oleksiak canqualify for more events at theRio Games this week at the Canadian Olympic swimming trials, which are being held at theToronto Pan Am Sports Centre in Scarborough this week.

Team Canada's head coach Ben Titley remembers seeing a "tall, gangly"Oleksiak, then 11, for the first time at the Toronto Swim Club.He immediately asked her coach if he couldspeak with the young athlete.

"We shook hands, and for anybody that's shook hands with a pro basketball player ... this was kind of what it was like," he said.

Titleyhas worked with herfor the lastyear, ramping up a training regimeOleksiak only started at age 10.

"She's actually gone from not swimming to being the fastest Canada's ever had in a five-year span,"Titley said.

Oleksiak now stands six-foot-one, and Titleysays withher physical attributes and rate of developmentthere's no telling what she's capable of. The teen now trains every day,sometimes twice a day, both in the pool and in the weight room.She does her high school classes online so she can focus on her swimming.

"I mean I've been training really, really hard this year," Oleksiak said. "I've had so many people behind me that have helped me get through it.

Family of Athletes

Oleksiak hails from an athletic family.

Her height comes from her dad, who is six-foot-nine. Her brother, Jamie, is a defenceman with the NHL's Dallas Stars.Her sister, Hayley is a rower at Northeastern University.

Oleksiak said her parents are always behind her, but they also push her when the training gets hard.

"My parents just tell me to suck it up," she said, laughing.

"If I want to get better I'm going to have to do this."

Titleysaid havinga family that's aware of the challenges and sacrificesneededon an athlete'sjourney to successis definitely a bonus.

Road to Rio

Titleysaid even afterOleksiakclocked a Canadian record, he knows she's capable of more. With words that will surely scare her competition,Titleysaid while he's pleased withOleksiak's swim: "she didn't execute the swim as well as we would have liked yesterday."

In the butterfly event,Titley is hoping his young swimmer can crack the top five in Rio. But that's months away.

For now, Oleksiak isfocused on cleaning up her butterfly techniqueand performing well in hernext Olympicqualifiersshe's set to swim the200 freestyle Thursday

"I think I have room to improve, I'm only 15," she said."I still can't really believe that it's happening to me."

"For right now, I'm just focused on my race tomorrow."