Team Canada's Maggie Mac Neil shows off her medal haul at the conclusion of the swimming competition at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 25.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
In January, organizers of the Pan American Games invited Maggie Mac Neil to Chile and introduced her as an ambassador to this year’s event. When the competition kicked off last week, the Canadian’s face could be seen in advertisements all over Santiago.
It was a good choice.
On Wednesday night the 23-year-old swimmer from London, Ont., won her fifth gold medal and became the only Canadian athlete to win five golds at a single Pan Am Games. She and teammate Mary-Sophie Harvey each claimed seven medals overall, a record for Canadian swimmers.
“It has been a great Games,” Mac Neil said by phone from Chile on Wednesday before she earned her fifth gold as a member of Canada’s 4x100-metre medley-relay team. “I wanted to do well for myself, for Canada and I wanted to make [organizing committee] Panam Sports proud since they were kind enough to bring me here almost a year ago.
“I exceeded all expectations.”
A masters student at Louisiana State, Mac Neil swam the butterfly leg to help the Canadian women take the 4x100-metre medley relay on the final night of swimming. She also won individual golds in the 100-metre butterfly, 100-metre freestyle and 50-metre freestyle. On the opening night, she swam the third leg for the winning 4x100 freestyle-relay team.
Her fifth trip to the top of the podium surpassed the four Pan Am gold medals won by Canadians in other years: swimmer Jessica Deglau (1999), table tennis player Lijuan Geng (1995) and gymnast Ernestine Russell-Carter (1959).
Mac Neil also raced for mixed-relay teams that won silver and bronze medals.
“I’ve had great results but technically I have been far from perfect,” she said. “At the start of one race I messed up and did something weird with my arms and nearly came to a stop as I dived into the water.”
Mac Neil, who was born in China but raised in Canada, is the reigning Olympic champion in the women’s 100 butterfly and set a Pan Am Games record in that event in Santiago. She also won an Olympic silver medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay and a medley bronze in Tokyo two years ago.
She says she mulled retiring after Tokyo but decided against it and now is focused on the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
“When I was younger I had my whole life planned out,” Mac Neil said. “I was meticulous at it and knew what I would do five or 10 years from then. Then COVID came and it actually helped me because it gave me time to think and evaluate and gave me a new perspective.
“Because of restrictions related to COVID, I felt like I missed a lot of stuff in Tokyo and since then, the Pan Ams have been my big goal.”
On a normal day of training, she swims twice, does dryland exercises and lifts weights. It’s a grind, as is a major swimming meet.
“At a meet, it’s all about trying to keep your composure and maximize your recovery time.”
She will soon return to LSU to complete a postgraduate degree in sports administration and down the road wants to pursue a law degree as well.
For the next few days, she will relax in Chile with her mom, who travelled to Santiago from Ontario on Thursday. And she’ll eat ice cream and enjoy a few other treats. It’s a reward for a job that was very well done.
“During training we burn so many calories that my coach will say, ‘You had a hard practice, now go eat some ice cream,’” Mac Neil says.
Marty Klinkenberg