Maggie MacNeil Breaks Commonwealth Games Record in the 100 Fly

2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

• Friday, July 29 – Wednesday, August 3, 2022
• Birmingham, England
• Sandwell Aquatic Center
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 10:30 am local / 5:30 am ET
  • Finals: 7:00 pm local / 2:00 pm ET
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entry List
• Entries (in seed order) – h/t to Troyy
• Live Results
• Day 2 Finals Live Recap

In spite of an injury that hit earlier this summer, Canadian swimmer Maggie MacNeil still managed to pull off a win and a Commonwealth Games Record in her first individual final at this week’s Commonwealth Games.

Swimming on Friday evening, the Canadian swam a 56.36. That was under the old Meet Record of 56.78 that was set by Emma McKeon in 2018. McKeon, who took a long break (and reportedly pondered retirement) after Tokyo, was 2nd on Friday in 56.38 – also better than her old record.

MacNeil’s win was Canada’s fourth gold medal in the event all-time: Katerine Savard won in 2014, Wendy Quirk won in 1978, and Patti Stenhouse won in 1974. Canadians medaled in each of the first four years in which this event was offered at the Commonwealth Games from 1970 through 1982, and Elaine “Mighty Mouse” Turner also won the last 110 yard butterfly event in 1966.

Splits Comparisons:

The splits show that MacNeil, in spite of the win, still might not have her endurance fully back after fracturing her elbow earlier this year. The injury occurred at the NCAA Championships in March, when she slipped on the pool deck. She pushed through Canadian Trials in April, but decided to only swim relays at the World Championships.

She added individual events back to her lineup for these Commonwealth Games, though still not the full schedule she might have swum otherwise. She has remaining entries in the 50 back and 50 fly, though she won’t swim any individual freestyle races. She split 53.51 on the anchor leg of Canada’s bronze medal winning mixed 400 free relay on Thursday, so now has two medals at these Games already.

MacNeil now has gold medals in the 100 fly at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships in long course and short course, and Olympic Games. The only remaining major international meets that Canada competes in where she hasn’t won gold are the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the Pan American Games. She could take a shot at the Pan American Games next year, but the next Pan Pac Championships won’t be until at least 2026.

MacNeil, the defending Olympic Champion in the 100 fly, finished her undergraduate degree, and initial four seasons of collegiate eligibility, at Michigan in the spring. She originally committed to transfer to Cal for her fifth and final year of eligibility, but after Cal head coach Teri McKeever was placed on a leave of absence, MacNeil decided to rejoin her former coach Rick Bishop at LSU next season.