CANADIAN MAGGIE MAC NEIL’S BIG DAY: GOLD, BRONZE AND PANA-AMERICAN RECORD

The Panam Sports team member broke the Pan American record and won gold in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.

With a time of 56.94 seconds, Canadian swimmer and member of the Panam Sports team, Maggie Mac Neil, achieved an exceptional performance by obtaining the gold medal, surpassing the Toronto 2015 Pan American record of American Kelsi Worrell who scored 57.24.

“It’s really exciting and it was done in 2015 when we were in Toronto, so it’s great to go here and break that and obviously that’s always the goal, to swim as fast as possible and be faster than everyone at the Pan American Games.”, Maggie commented.

With almost a second gap, the Canadian surpassed her American rival, Kelly Pash, on the final lap. When they reached 100 meters and the clocks stopped, there was a clear winner.

“I was wearing my glasses when I saw I had broken the record. When I took them off, I couldn’t believe it,” said the Team Panam Sports medalist.

Maggie is the current Olympic champion in the 400 meter butterfly, was also an Olympic silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Games and is widely recognized for her performances in different specialties. At the World Swimming Championships in Australia in 2022, he set the world record in the 100 meter butterfly.

Likewise, the athlete, alongside Knox Finley, Javier Acevedo and Marie Sophie Harvey, won the bronze medal in the 4×100 meter mixed freestyle discipline.

“It’s always difficult to do a double with a quick change and it’s just about trying to recover and prepare for the next one. It’s always easier to prepare for a relay because you know everyone will take you out after a good swim or a bad swim,” Mac Neil said.

With this performance Maggie adds her second gold medal to Santiago 2023.

Written by Fernanda Fredes