Margaret’s Bio

• At the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Mac Neil became the winningest female swimmer of all time at the Games winning five gold (100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 4×100 freestyle, 4×100 medley relay, 50 freestyle), one silver (4×100 medley) and a bronze (4×100 freestyle). She also broke two Pan American records in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
• First Canadian athlete in any sport and second swimmer from any country (Cynthia Woodhead) with five gold medals at Pan Ams. Along with Mary-Sophie Harvey, set the record for most medals by a Canadian swimmer at a single Pan Ams with seven. Her 100 free and fly times both broke Pan Am records. 100 free was a personal best time. Tied for first in 50 free for gold.
• Won two medals at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships including a silver in the 100-metre butterfly and bronze in the 4×100-metre medley relay.
• Part of the 4×100 mixed freestyle relay that finished fourth, mixed medley relay that finished sixth and women’s 4×100 freestyle that finished seventh.
• Margaret Mac Neil won Canada’s first gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games while breaking the Canadian and Americas records in the 100m butterfly. She also won silver as a member of the 4x100m freestyle and bronze with the 4x100m medley relay team that broke the Canadian record.
• She was named Tokyo 2020 Best Female Athlete at the 2021 ANOC Awards.

• During her final year of eligibility at Louisiana State University, Mac Neil broke the 50-yard freestyle NCAA record to take gold at NCAA Championships with a time of 20.79. She then went on to win two more medals during competition including silver in 100-m butterfly and bronze in 100-m freestyle.
• Mac Neil broke the Canadian and World Cup records to win the 100-m butterfly at the Toronto 2022 FINA Swimming World Cup. Mac Neil was declared the female winner of the Toronto leg of the World Cup.
• Mac Neil was Canada’s sole gold medallist at the FINA World Championships (25m) 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. She set world records in both the 100-m butterfly and 50-m backstroke and also took the top of the podium in the 50-m butterfly. She helped Canada to bronze in the women’s 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relays, as well as the mixed 4×50 medley. The women’s 4×100 free set a Canadian record.

• Maggie Mac Neil collected 5 medals, including 4 gold at the 2021 FINA World Championships (25m). In the individual events, Mac Neil broke the world record in the 50m backstroke and won gold in the 100m butterfly by setting a Canadian record. In the relay events, she competed in the women’s 4x100m freestyle and the mixed 4x50m freestyle, both of which won gold, in addition to the butterfly leg of the relay 4 x 100 m medley who won the silver medal, while setting Canadian records. Mac Neil was also part of the 4x50m medley relay team that lowered the Canadian record and finished fourth.
• Mac Neil won gold and broke the Commonwealth Games record in the 100m butterfly at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She finished 4th ⁱⁿ the 50m butterfly. She was a member of the 4×100m medley relay (silver), 4×100m mixed medley relay (silver), 4×100m freestyle relay (bronze) and 4×100m freestyle relay (bronze) .
• At her first FINA World Championships, in 2019 in Gwangju, Maggie Mac Neil won gold in the 100m butterfly while setting a double record (Canadian and Americas).
• At the same meet, she was part of the women’s 4 x 100 m freestyle relay and 4 x 100 m medley relay teams that won bronze medals and broke Canadian records, in addition to being part of the team that finished 5th ⁱⁿ  the 4 x 100 m mixed medley relay.
• Mac Neil focused on the relays at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest. She won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x100m medley. She also swam in the preliminaries in the 4x100m freestyle relay which went on to win silver in the final.
• At the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championships, Mac Neil collected bronze in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle events.
• At the 2021 NCAA Swimming Championships, Mac Neil won and set an NCAA record in the 100-yard butterfly, becoming the first woman in history to go under 49 seconds in the event. Mac Neil also won the 100 yard freestyle, posting the third best time in history.
• At the same meet, Mac Neil led the University of Michigan 400-yard medley relay in 49.76 and became the second woman in history to go under 50 seconds in both the 100-yard butterfly and at 100 yards backstroke. Based on her performances, Mac Neil was awarded the Collegiate Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Division I Swimmer of the Year as well as the Big Ten Conference Swimmer of the Year.
• Margaret Mac Neil was tentatively named to the 2020 Olympic team thanks to her performances in 2019 and cemented her spot by winning gold in the 100m butterfly at the 2020 Olympic Trials.
• Mac Neil was awarded the 2019 Big Ten Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten. She is also a seven-time All-American and a four-time Big Ten Champion. She set University of Michigan records at 50 free yards, 100 back yards, and 100 butterfly yards.
• For the third year in a row, Mac Neil was named Big Ten Conference Swimmer of the Year.
• Mac Neil won Swimming Canada’s 2021 Swimmer of the Year.
• Mac Neil won Swimming Canada’s Breakout Swimmer of the Year in 2019.
• At the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, Mac Neil won gold in the 100m butterfly and set the Junior Pan Pacific Championships record. She was also part of the silver medal-winning 4×100 m medley women’s and mixed relay team and the women’s 4×100 m freestyle relay which won the bronze medal.
• Mac Neil is also a talented musician. She started playing the violin at the age of 5 and the clarinet at 12.

Quick Facts

• Nickname: Maggie, Mags, Maggers
• Twitter: @mags_swims26
• Instagram: @macnmagg
• Favourite Movie: Erin Brockovich
• Favourite Book: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Favourite TV Show: Grey’s Anatomy
• Favourite Actor/Actress: Sandra Bullock
• Other Sport: Volleyball
• Favourite place to visit: London, England
• Pre-race meal: Pasta
• Guilty Pleasure: Ice Cream
• Special Talent: Memorized the whole periodic table and the first 100 digits of Pi

Maggie MacNeil