Canadian swimmer Maggie Mac Neil (centre) competes in the women’s 4x100 freestyle relay final on Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris, France, during the Olympic Games. Siegfried Modola/The Globe and MailSiegfried Modola/The Globe and Mail
Maggie Mac Neil was chasing history – the kind that seemed impossible.
No Canadian has successfully defended an Olympic swimming gold medal, though six athletes before her had tried.
On Sunday, before a packed house of about 13,000 fans at Paris La Défense Arena, Mac Neil was attempting to become the first to do so, after winning the 100-metre butterfly three years ago in Tokyo.
Ranked sixth heading into the race, Mac Neil was facing a strong field that had pushed the event further and faster since Tokyo, including world-record-holder Gretchen Walsh of the United States and her compatriot, Torri Huske.
In the end, the Americans were too quick.
Mac Neil, 24, from London, Ont., finished fifth in a time of 56.44 seconds, charging off the blocks and swimming one of the fastest first 50 metres she’s raced in the event, but was unable to make the podium.
Huske won gold (55.59) and Walsh claimed silver (55.63). China’s Yufei Zhang took bronze (56.21).
Mac Neil went in knowing what she was up against. The history of trying to defend gold was not lost on her.
“It’s hard enough to do it once, and to do it again is even harder,” Mac Neil said.
“But the last couple of months I’ve been really telling myself that I have nothing to prove to anyone, myself or anyone else.”
Repeating at national races is challenging enough, Mac Neil said. But the Olympics are on another level.
“Repeating at worlds or repeating at the Olympics is one of the hardest things to do for sure.”
Canada’s first medal in Paris came a day earlier at the pool, after Summer McIntosh, one of the sport’s ascendant stars, won a silver medal in the 400-metre freestyle on Saturday. In doing so she faced off against two of the best swimmers in history: Australian Ariarne Titmus, who took gold, and American Katie Ledecky, who raced to bronze.
Though Mac Neil won gold in the 100-metre butterfly in Tokyo despite being ranked off the podium ahead of that race, she could not engineer a similar upset in Paris.
Mac Neil said she probably started too fast on Sunday. Though she was impressed by her time in the first 50 metres (25.94), which had her in fourth place at the turn, it may have cost her in the homestretch.
“I think I went out a bit fast in the first 50,” Mac Neil said. “i think maybe we maybe put a little bit too much emphasis on that opening.”
Mac Neil’s gold medal in Tokyo produced one of Canada’s more memorable Olympic moments when she won the butterfly but was left squinting at the scoreboard, unable to see her time because she is nearsighted and doesn’t wear contacts or prescription goggles during races.
Mac Neil arrived in Paris having entered fewer competitions over the past year than she typically would race before an Olympics. Mac Neil, who trains at Louisiana State University with her coach, Rick Bishop, ran out of NCAA eligibility last year, and couldn’t race on the college circuit.
Instead, Mac Neil focused on training, which included simulating races in practice.
Mac Neil was without Bishop in Paris, after he said he would miss the Olympics because of personal reasons. Mac Neil said she hadn’t talked to him in about a week, but expected to hear from him after the race.
Mac Neil said she could sense the 100-metre butterfly field was going to be tough, given the times her competitors were registering in recent years, including the American swimmers.
“I knew going in for years this is going to be the deepest field,” she said. “I was excited to be part of it.”
For now the streak will live on for Canadian swimming. The seven Canadians who have reached the top of the podium in the sport are Mac Neil, Penny Oleksiak (2016), Mark Tewksbury (1992), Alex Baumann (twice in 1984), Anne Ottenbrite (1984), Victor Davis (1984), and George Hodgson (twice in 1912).