Maggie Mac Neil

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Maggie Mac Neil
Personal information
Full nameHannah Margaret McNair Mac Neil
National team Canada
Born (2000-02-26) 26 February 2000 (age 21)
Jiujiang, Jiangxi, China[1]
Height169 cm (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Weight63 kg (139 lb)[1]
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesButterfly, backstroke, freestyle
ClubLondon Aquatic Club
College teamUniversity of Michigan
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Canada
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 1
World Championships (LC) 1 0 2
World Championships (SC) 4 1 0
Total 6 2 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 100 m butterfly
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m medley
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2019 Gwangju 100 m butterfly
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m medley
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 2021 Abu Dhabi 50 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place 2021 Abu Dhabi 100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4×50 m mixed freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2021 Abu Dhabi 4×100 m medley

Hannah Margaret McNair "Maggie" Mac Neil[note 1] (born 26 February 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer.[2][1] She is the current Olympic, world and world swimming champion and Americas record holder in the women's 100 metre butterfly event (55.59s), having won the gold medal at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2021 FINA World Championships.

Early life[]

Mac Neil was born in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, China in February 2000 and was adopted by her Canadian family a year later.[3][4][5] Growing up in London, Ontario, Mac Neil's first competitive experience as a swimmer came with the team of the school she first took lessons from. She would later cite the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as the point where she "started to take swimming seriously and knew that I wanted to pursue it further."[6] She competed for Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School and the London Aquatic Club prior to her acceptance at the University of Michigan.[4] She placed sixth in the 100 m butterfly event trials for Canada's 2016 Olympic team.[7]

Career[]

2019–20: World and NCAA titles[]

Mac Neil was part of the Canadian women's team at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju. She first won a bronze medal as part of the 4×100 m freestyle relay team, alongside Penny Oleksiak, Taylor Ruck, Kayla Sanchez, and Rebecca Smith. Mac Neil then competed in and won gold in the women's 100 metre butterfly,[8] beating four-time World and reigning Olympic champion Sarah Sjöström, in what was considered a major upset.[9] She closed out the championships as part of the Canadian 4×100 m medley team, swimming the final with Kylie Masse, Sydney Pickrem and Oleksiak. The team finished third, winning Mac Neil's second bronze medal of the event, and setting a record of eight medals for Canada at a single world championship.[10]

Competing for the University of Michigan, Mac Neil first tied the NCAA record for the 100 yard butterfly, and then broke it at the 2021 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in March 2021. She was the first in the NCAA to post a time under 49 seconds (48.89), and the first Michigan swimmer to win an NCAA title since 2008.[11] She went on to win a second gold medal at the same championship, taking the 100 yard freestyle title.[12]

2020 Summer Olympics[]

In June 2021, she qualified to represent Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[13] Mac Neil first competed as part of the Canadian team for the 4×100 m freestyle relay, replacing Ruck for the event final and swimming a 53.47 second split to help take the silver medal, Mac Neil's first Olympic medal.[14] The following day, Mac Neil competed in the final of the 100 m butterfly event, taking the gold medal by a margin of 0.05 seconds over China's Zhang Yufei, setting a new personal best and Americas record of 55.59. She was the first Canadian gold medalist of the 2020 Tokyo Games.[15] Mac Neil wears glasses, and without contacts or prescription goggles, could not immediately see her results; it took her a few seconds to focus on the results board and realize she won gold.[16] Cameras focused on her squinting at the results board, and she said after that "I was just trying to squint and see where I came. I heard my name getting called, so I knew I must have done something good."[16] Mac Neil's final event was the 4×100 m medley relay, where she posted a 55.27 time in her leg of the relay and the Canadian team won the bronze medal, Mac Neil's third of the Olympics.[17] The Association of National Olympic Committees subsequently named her the "Best Female Athlete of Tokyo 2020".[18] She was one of seven finalists for the 2021 Lou Marsh Trophy, awarded annually to Canada's top athlete.[19]

2021 World Swimming Championships[]

At the end of the year, Mac Neil was part of the Canadian delegation to the 2021 FINA World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, the top international event competed in a short course pool. She won the gold medal in the 50 m backstroke, setting a new world record in the process, afterward admitting that she would never have expected to set her first world record in that stroke.[20] She won gold as well in the 100 m butterfly with a national record time of 55.04, making her the first woman to hold Olympic, World Aquatic, World Swimming, and NCAA titles in the same event simultaneously, and the second person to do so after Aaron Peirsol. She won three other medals, two gold and a silver, in relay events at the championships.[21]

Honours and awards[]

  • 2021 ANOC Award, "Best Female Athlete of Tokyo 2020".[18][22]

Personal bests[]

Long course (50-meter pool)[]

Event Time[23] Venue Date Notes
50 m freestyle 25.21 Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Toronto 28 May 2021
100 m freestyle 54.02 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials 22 July 2021
50 m butterfly 26.14 Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju 26 July 2019
100 m butterfly 55.59 Tokyo Aquatics Centre, Tokyo 26 July 2021 AM, NR

Short course (25-meter pool)[]

Event Time[23] Venue Date Notes
50 m backstroke 25.27 Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi 20 December 2021 WR
50 m butterfly 25.13 FINA World Cup Series, Berlin 2 October 2021 NR
100 m butterfly 55.04 Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi 21 December 2021 NR
100 m individual medley 1:00.12 FINA World Cup Series, Berlin 1 October 2021

Notes[]

  1. ^ Her surname is frequently rendered as MacNeil in news reporting.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Maggie Mac Neil Canadian Olympic profile". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Maggie MacNeil". SwimSwam. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  3. ^ Tang, Didi. "Maggie Mac Neil's Olympic gold for Canada thrusts China's one-child policy back into spotlight". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b Max Wadley (26 July 2021). "UMich swimmer Maggie MacNeil wins gold in Tokyo". Michigan Daily.
  5. ^ "Canada's MacNeil sparks soul-searching over China's one-child policy". South China Morning Post. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  6. ^ Lauren Kelly (5 March 2021). "Canadian swimmer Maggie MacNeil is poised for breakout at Tokyo Olympics". Sportsnet. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  7. ^ Anne Lepesant (26 September 2017). "Michigan Picks Up Verbal Pledge from Canada's Maggie MacNeil". SwimSwam. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  8. ^ "18th FINA World Championships 2019: Women's 100m Butterfly start list" (PDF). FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Canadian teen Maggie MacNeil wins shocking gold at swimming worlds". CBC Sports. 22 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Canada wraps worlds with record-extending 8th medal in women's 4x100m medley relay". CBC Sports. 29 July 2019.
  11. ^ Angelique S. Chengelis (20 March 2021). "UM junior Maggie MacNeil first woman to break 49 seconds in 100-yard butterfly". The Detroit News.
  12. ^ Jeffrey Reed (21 March 2021). "London's MacNeil NCAA Champ, All-American, Record Holder". London Ontario Sports.
  13. ^ "Michigan standout Maggie MacNeil to swim three events at Olympics; strong candidate to medal". TheMichiganInsider.com. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Penny Oleksiak powers Canadian women to 1st medal of Tokyo Olympics". CBC Sports. 24 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Canada's Maggie Mac Neil wins gold in women's 100m butterfly". CBC Sports. 25 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b Gerald Imray (26 July 2021). "All a blur as Canada's MacNeil claims 2 medals at Olympics". Associated Press.
  17. ^ Devin Heroux (31 July 2021). "Oleksiak earns historic medal No. 7 as Canadian women win bronze in 4x100m medley relay". CBC Sports.
  18. ^ a b "Canada's Maggie Mac Neil named Best Female Athlete of Tokyo 2020". CBC Sports. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Damian Warner crowned Canada's top athlete of 2021 with Lou Marsh Trophy". CBC Sports. 8 December 2021.
  20. ^ Hodges, Coleman (22 December 2021). [hhttps://swimswam.com/macneil-wouldnt-have-believed-that-her-first-wr-would-have-been-backstroke/ "MacNeil wouldn't have believed that her first WR would have been backstroke"]. SwimSwam.
  21. ^ Keith, Braden (22 December 2021). "Maggie MacNeil becomes second* swimmer to hold these four titles simultaneously". SwimSwam.
  22. ^ "Margaret Mac Neil (CAN) crowned Best Female Athlete of Tokyo 2020". FINA. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Maggie Mac Neil profile". Swimming Canada. Retrieved 21 December 2021.

External links[]

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