MacNeil adds NCAA champ – twice – to her resume
London’s Maggie MacNeil became an NCAA champion in Greensboro, NC, the weekend of March 18-20, capturing a pair of gold medals (and setting records in the process).
Maggie MacNeil, 21, swam to gold medals in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle events at the 2021 NCAA Championships in Greensboro, NC. (NCAA photo).
Life comes at you fast. Maggie MacNeil burst onto the scene just two summers ago, shocking the field at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships by winning the women’s 100-metre butterfly event (in Gwangju, South Korea). In so doing, she beat Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström, the reigning Olympic champion and the best in the event for the better part of a decade.
MacNeil, 19 at the time, hadn’t been ranked in the top 20. Overnight, she became a serious contender – and a swimmer to be feared.
Over the weekend, the now-21-year-old University of Michigan student put an exclamation mark on her world-class talents – and her Olympic potential – by becoming an NCAA champion twice over, in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle events in Greensboro, NC.
After finishing runner-up to meet rival Kate Douglass in the 50-yard freestyle event (by 0.04 seconds) Thursday, MacNeil came out on top Friday – and in historic fashion. The London, Ontario native not only claimed gold in the butterfly event, but she broke the 49-second mark in the process.
“Winning an NCAA title has been my goal, I think, since probably my freshman year, and I knew it was going to be a challenge going into tonight,” MacNeil said on a Zoom call with reporters from Greensboro Friday night. “Kate’s such a great racer and competitor. But I touched and I knew I had won at that point. But it wasn’t until I looked close at the scoreboard that I saw I had broken the 49 seconds.”
In fact, her time of 48.89 broke the NCAA record and made her the first woman in history to swim under 49 seconds. It was yet another milestone for the 21-year-old, who will compete for Canada at the Olympics in Tokyo this summer.
“I think 48 has been on my mind for awhile, especially after I went 49.20 back in 2019,” said MacNeil, who added that not having an NCAA Championship meet last year due to COVID-19 fueled her fire to leave everything in the pool at the 2021 event. “I’ve been working a lot on the first 50 (of the 100-yard race), and the first 25 of my 50. I think that definitely was able to translate into tonight’s swim.”
MacNeil says she felt pressure (from herself) at this year’s NCAA Championships. That comes with being a perennial title contender, which she has now become. She wasn’t expecting to win in Gwangju two summers ago, after all. Now, things are different.
“I think tonight I just came in with so many more expectations,” MacNeil said. “Winning a national title has been on my mind for three years. But I was really glad that I was able to put that (pressure) aside and rely on the training that I’ve done.”
MacNeil says she also gets nervous, though it’s hard to tell. The 21-year-old is poised beyond her years – both in and out of the pool. Even in a Zoom call with reporters late on a Friday night, where technical difficulties are present from the beginning, she doesn’t seem phased one bit.
Sitting in her Michigan Wolverines t-shirt with ear buds in, it becomes apparent that reporters can hear her, but she can’t hear us. No bother, she’s happy to read and answer questions sent in through the chat feature. She doesn’t blink an eye. Oh, and she has to race the next day.
The result? Another gold medal.
Racing in the 100-yard freestyle finals on Saturday, MacNeil bested Douglass (University of Virginia) once again, breaking a pool record (46.02) previously held by Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel. Her time was the third-fastest in history for the event, behind Manuel and Erika Brown (former Tennessee swimmer).
It capped off a phenomenal meet for MacNeil, who had also set a school record by leading off Michigan’s fourth place finishing 400-yard Medley Relay team in 49.76 (this also made her the second woman in history to break 50 seconds in both the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke). She also lowered her previously-held Big Ten and Michigan records in her runner-up 50-yard freestyle swim (21.17).
Unfortunately, as with all swimmers at the meet, MacNeil wasn’t able to celebrate her accomplishments with her family by her side. No spectators were allowed to attend this year’s NCAA Championships due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel their support from afar.
“My parents have been texting me throughout the meet,” MacNeil said. “I called my mom briefly right after I swam. So, they’ve been following along, they’ve been posting pictures and watching the stream online.”
With a pair of individual NCAA titles under her belt, MacNeil’s focus now is on this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. (NCAA photo).
But the cheering section back home doesn’t stop there.
“I have the best support from London,” MacNeil added. “My Montessori teachers, and my high school teachers, they’re just amazing … I’m just so honoured, and I love representing London especially.”
The swimming phenom will next represent London when she competes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer. She was named to the team by Swimming Canada back in January, ahead of the Canadian trials this spring (May 24-28). Teammate Penny Oleksiak was the star of the 2016 Games in Rio, claiming four medals, but MacNeil is hoping to make some noise of her own at the 2021 Games.
She’s certainly in a different place than she was in 2019, but MacNeil says she’s still surprising herself with her rise in the world ranks. But she hasn’t changed. She’s still taking things one day at a time.
“I’m just trying to work on the little things and enjoy the sport and enjoy every day,” MacNeil said. “And the results just kind of come along with that.”
The London Lightning, defending BSL champs, have announced the roster they’ll open the 2024-25 season with, as training camp closes and they eye Sudbury in the season opener.