CBC Lite
   Sections

Sports • Aquatics • Olympics • Summer Sports

Olympic medallist Sydney Pickrem retires after decade with Canada's
swim team

   The Canadian Press | Posted: April 17, 2026 5:31 PM | Last
   Updated: Just now

   28-year-old has spent 2 seasons training and coaching at West
   Virginia University

   Image | Canadian swimmer Sydney Pickrem at 2024 Olympics

   Caption: Canada's Sydney Pickrem won seven medals at
   long-course world championships and six at short-course worlds,
   including gold in the 200-metre individual medley and the
   4x200-metre freestyle relay in 2021 in Abu Dhabi. (Christinne
   Muschi/Canadian Press/File)
   (BUTTON) Load image
   Open image in new tab
   Canadian swimmer Sydney Pickrem announced her retirement from
   competition Thursday after more than a decade with the national
   team.
   The 28-year-old competed at three Olympic Games and won a
   bronze medal in the women's medley relay at the 2021 Tokyo
   Olympics.
   She won seven medals at long-course world championships and six
   at short-course worlds, including gold in the 200-metre
   individual medley and the 4x200-metre freestyle relay in 2021
   in Abu Dhabi.
   Pickrem, born in Florida to Canadian parents from Halifax,
   joined the senior team in 2014 at age 17. She remained a
   fixture during the most successful period in Canadian swimming
   alongside teammates Maggie Mac Neil, Penny Oleksiak, Kylie
   Masse and Summer McIntosh.
   She has spent the past two seasons balancing training with a
   coaching role at West Virginia University.
   Pickrem plans to continue in the sport as a coach.
   WATCH | Pickrem picks up 2024 world silver medal in women's
   200-metre IM:

   Media Video | Canada's Pickrem swims to World Championship
   silver medal

   Caption: Sydney Pickrem captured a silver medal for Canada
   Monday in the 200 metre medley swimming race at the World
   Championships in Doha.
   Open full embed in new tab Loading external pages may require
   significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
   pages.

More Stories Like This

   The related links below are generated automatically based on
   the story you’ve just read.

   Loading...
   CBC Lite is a low-bandwidth website. To see what's new, check
   out our release notes. For high quality images, media,
   comments, and other additional features visit the full version
   of this story.
   We and select advertising partners use trackers to collect some
   of your data in order to enhance your experience and to deliver
   personalized content and advertising. If you are not
   comfortable with the use of this information, please review
   your device and browser privacy settings before continuing your
   visit. Learn more about Online Tracking and Privacy Choices.
     * Corrections and Clarifications
     * Terms of Use
     * Reuse & Permission
     * Privacy
     * Accessibility
     * Contact a Newsroom
     * Submit Feedback
     * Lite Help Centre
     * Jobs
     * RSS

   CBC Lite version: 1.8.15. ©2026 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights
   reserved.