In defense of title, Mac Neil determined to have fun

Maggie Mac Neil, the reigning 100m Butterfly Olympic champ, has a renewed perspective in Paris. She wants to win, of course. But she’s focused on the bigger picture — and enjoying the experience.

(Photo: Swimming Canada / Gerard Richardson).

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As she prepares for the Paris Olympics, looking to defend her gold medal from three years ago, Maggie Mac Neil is surprisingly laid back about the whole thing.

She’s in a different place in 2024 than she was in 2021. She’s grown as a person. She’s learned a lot about herself. She’s gained perspective.

Speaking with the media, fielding questions in a casual manner, smiling and laughing throughout, you’d think she was preparing for the kind of meets she competed in as a member of the London Aquatic Club as a teenager.

In fact, this is the Olympics, the biggest stage for the world’s top swimmers.

“I think we’ve done a really great job of keeping the mood light and having fun,” Mac Neil said about Swimming Canada’s pre-Olympic camp in Caen, France, which ran from July 13 to 22. “We’re definitely enjoying the atmosphere and (welcoming) the newbies onto the team. We have a really great group here and everyone’s fitting in really well and fitting into the culture that we’ve set.”

Mac Neil is the reigning Olympic champion in the 100m Butterfly event. She won Canada’s first gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games (held in 2021, of course, because of the COVID-19 pandemic). That year, she became the first woman hold each of the Olympic, World Aquatic, World Swimming, and NCAA titles in the same event at the same time.

But then she took a step back.

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In the early part of 2022, citing the pressures that come with being on top, and the toll it had taken on her mental health, she opted not to compete in individual events at that year’s World Championships. She still swam in the relays, though, and she helped Canada come away with three medals.

But later in the year, and into 2023, it seemed a ‘new’ Maggie Mac Neil had arrived on the scene – someone who, though training just as hard, and with the same drive to be the best, had a newfound perspective on the sport. She wanted to make sure she was having fun.

That Maggie was certainly on display at the Pan Am Games last fall, her last major competition before this summer’s Olympics. At the same time, she happened to set a Canadian record with five gold medals (seven medals total) in Santiago, Chile, where she also served as an ambassador at the Games.

“That was such a fun experience,” Mac Neil said recently. “We got the chance to race different people, in a different country. Normally our championship meets fall in the summer, so it was a unique experience of getting back and training in early fall and being able to put up some strong performances across the board.”

And the focus on fun?

“I want to carry that mindset into Paris,” she said.

“Obviously, expectations, and the Olympics in general, kind of carry a different weight, but I think I always swim my best when I’m not super focused on the outcome and I’m enjoying myself and enjoying the process.”

(Photo: Candice Ward / COC).

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She certainly seems to be enjoying the process heading into the Paris 2024 Games, which get underway July 24 and run through August 11. This time, unlike in 2021, spectators will be out in full force, and the City of Love will be bustling.

“I’m really excited to have my first real Olympic experience. I’m just trying to keep everything in perspective and not be like, ‘Oh, if I don’t achieve this goal that I set for myself, it’s the be-all and end-all,’ but just enjoy everything and take it all in.”

If she does have a goal, it’s certainly to repeat as the Olympic champion in the 100m Butterfly. It’s been her signature event since she burst onto the scene back in 2019, shocking the field – and, most notably, four-time World and reigning Olympic champion Sarah Sjöström – to win the event at the World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

She’s since dominated the event. She’s the world record holder with a time of 54.05 seconds. She won silver at the 2023 Worlds, being bested by China’s Zhang Yufei, but she’s looking to once again stand atop the Butterfly world.

And she’ll get the chance to do so early. On July 27, when the swimming schedule gets underway, the first individual event will be 100m Butterfly heats. Later in the day, Canada – and Mac Neil – could very well win their first medal in a women’s relay event, the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. That’s what happened in 2021, and it’s what the team is hoping to duplicate this year.

“I think the momentum that we gained through the first performances is definitely crucial,” Mac Neil said. “I think that really set the tone, at least for swimming. And we had one of the most successful Games, not just for Canadian swimming but for Canada as a whole country. I’m glad that swimming is one of the first events and we can set the tone not only for us but for the entire Games.”

Mac Neil won’t just be freestyling in the relay this year. For the first time at a World Championships or Olympic Games, she’ll compete individually in the 100m Freestyle. She fared well in the event at the Pan Ams, and she’s looking forward to giving it another go.

“I know I’m really known for the Butterfly internationally, so I’m really excited to take my first stab at swimming another event individually at this Olympics,” she said. “I’d never raced anything other than (the Butterfly) on even junior teams. I’m really excited to see what I can do.

“I’m hoping for a really good result and hopefully the relay split that I’ll put up at the beginning of the meet will give me even more confidence to do that.”

(Photo: Swimming Canada / Andrew Lahodynskyj).

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Mac Neil gave Canada a memorable moment at the Tokyo 2020 Games when she was seen squinting at the board to see if she’d won. She wears glasses, and her vision is impaired enough that she couldn’t see the results. (She later said she heard her name being announced and assumed that meant she was victorious).

Last summer, Speedo supplied her with prescription goggles, which she says were “a life changer.” But not so fast. At the Olympics, she won’t be wearing them.

“They just don’t make a prescription in the type that I now race in,” she said. “If they did, I would wear them.”

In other words, expect to see more squinting at these Games.

“Sometimes I like to think it helps because I can’t see where other people are and I can focus on my own race. That was definitely the case in Tokyo.”

Maybe it’s only fitting. Mac Neil seems much more focused only on what’s in her control anyway. And, of course, that includes enjoying the process and having fun. That’s certainly been the story in training camp.

“The team atmosphere has been great,” she said. “It’s been fun. But we’re also able to put the work in and get serious when we need to. I think that’s going to be key as we head into Paris.

“I think we’re just trying to re-establish the relationships and the closeness that we had in Tokyo. We’re trying to get back to that, and I think that will come with time. I’m excited to see where this team is headed.”