MAGGIE MAC NEIL FINISHED THE PANAMERIC GAMES IN GOLD AND JOINED THE SWIMMING LEGENDS
Canadian member of the Panam Sports team, Maggie Mac Neil, tied American Cynthia Woodhead’s record for gold medals and was the second most medal winner in women’s swimming at a Pan American Games .
At 23 years old and with the gold she won today in the 4×100 combined relay, Maggie Mac Neil has become one of the great figures, not only of Santiago 2023, but of the history of the Pan American Games. His 7 medals during the continent’s most important multi-sport event can be compared to the great legends of swimming.
If she continues to compete at this level at the next Pan American Games, she could match or surpass Canadian Joann Malar, who with her 19 medals is the woman and swimmer with the most podiums in history. Another historic swimmer that Maggie could try to surpass is Brazilian Thiago Pereira, who won 23 medals in 4 Pan American Games. Santo Domingo 2003, Rio 2007, Guadalajara 2011 and Toronto 2015 were the editions he needed to obtain this number of medals and be remembered under the nickname “Mr. Pain”.
With this fifth gold medal, Maggie Mac Neil was one medal away from the record of the Brazilian Thiago Pereira, who in two consecutive editions, Rio 2007 and Guadalajara 2011, achieved 6 gold medals. Mac Neil also won the same number of gold medals as legendary American swimmer Mark Spitz, a multiple Olympic champion, who won 5 gold medals at the 1967 Winnipeg Pan American Games, winning each of his events.
Another swimming legend that Maggie matched in the women’s branches was Cynthia Woodhead who won 5 gold medals for the United States at the 1979 San Juan Pan American Games. Woodhead did the same as Mark Spitz, winning gold in every event she competed in, including the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle as well as the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m combined relays.
In Santiago 2023, Maggie Mac Neil has written her own legend. In addition to winning 5 gold medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle, the 100m butterfly and the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays, a silver and a bronze medal were added to the mixed relay 4x100m medley and freestyle, respectively.
Her incredible total of 7 medals sits behind another historic Pan American Games figure, Silvia Poll of Costa Rica. Poll established an almost untouchable mark when he won a record 8 medals at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, including 4 gold.
With these figures, and after participating in 7 different events, Maggie Mac Neil won a medal in each of the finals in which she participated. His performance can already be considered one of the best in the history of swimming and the Pan American Games.
By Alfredo Albornoz
Panam Sports Team Ambassador Maggie Mac Neil (CAN) with a gold medal, a familiar scene at Santiago 2023.
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