Londoner Maggie McNeill charts her rise to swimming stardom | Jobs Vox

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Maggie McNeill had no trouble in the water at last week’s World Short Course Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

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A post-event visit to the Great Barrier Reef was a different story.

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“The coral itself was super impressive,” said the 22-year-old swimming superstar from London, “but my friend and I did this extra excursion outside the reef and I kept drowning in the ocean. I had to snorkel and, I’ll remind you, I always had normal swimming goggles because I couldn’t breathe through my nose because I had this stupid mask on.

“I learned my lesson.”

Mac Neal’s three individual golds, two world records, three relay medals and a women’s swimming medal added to her growing list and also added more than $85,000 to her purse.

The Olympic and world 100m butterfly champion has very little left in his career and is establishing himself as one of the pool’s all-time greats.

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“It’s probably still somewhat surreal for Cathy Ledecky,” Mac Neal said, referring to the longtime US swimming champion. He was very happy and satisfied this week. I don’t know if I’ll ever think of myself in this field because there are always things I want to do and improve.”

McNeil’s underwater performance and cornering power are enhanced in the short track (25m) pool. He wasn’t really excited about competing in the long courses (50m pool) until his freshman year at the University of Michigan and his first world title.

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“You bring different things and you have to improve certain skills,” he said. “For the long course, it’s about my speed and pace in the second 50 (meters). On short track meters, it’s about trying to get my walls up to 15 each, which is really hard. It’s like running yardage, but it’s hard because my stroke count can be reduced.

“My body has grown 25 feet more than anything else, and I’m looking forward to seeing where that takes me in my NCAA season.”

Mac Neal thrived in front of big crowds in one of the most passionate sports in the country. Aussies are famous for their love of swimming culture and they explode every time they beat the Americans.

The Canadian standout did her part by defeating 20-year-old American Tori Huske in their big butterfly clash.

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“I don’t know him very well yet,” McNeal said. “He won the long course worlds and beat me by 0.01 seconds at the (NCAAs) in March, which was the worst meet of my career.

“But I learned a lot about myself in the process. I know his strategy – it’s the same as many people. I know he’s going to go out hard and it’s just a matter of staying with him for the first 50 and then knowing I’ve got a better back half than him.”

Mac Neal has become a versatile swimmer and doesn’t train much for flying anymore. The freestyle and backstroke, where she improved her own record in the 50m short to 25.25 seconds last week, gives her something fun to focus on in big meets.

“I could swim the 50 and 100 free, too,” he said, “but since the 100 fly is the last day, I didn’t want to swim too many times before that. I knew the world record was out of reach. “

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Her blistering 54.05-second performance in the 100 fly restored her confidence after suffering a fractured elbow after slipping on the pool deck at Georgia Tech at the recent NCAA Championships.

“I broke my other elbow at the midseason meet, so I think I have to be more careful with my elbows,” he said. “The one I hacked works really well.

“Going back to my old coach (Rick Bishop at Louisiana State) worked out great. He knows what I can do and when I talked to him after that meeting he said I thought you could go 54.2 or 54.3 but I didn’t think you could go 54.0. “He’s got scoring time in mind and usually I can beat them, so that’s a good sign.”

Mac Neal is a planner and it’s no surprise that he has the road to the 2024 Olympics lined up in Paris. But it also has time since it was planned. He is studying for a master’s degree in sports management and will probably go to law school.

“I’m happy at LSU and I’m excited for the SECs (Southeastern Conference Championships) and the NCAAs (in Knoxville, Tenn., in March),” he said. “The Olympics are back in your mind, just a year and a half away, and everything we do — the NCs, the worlds, the Pan Am Games — is preparing for that. After that I take a long break and vacation in Europe with friends, but after Paris I can’t stop myself.

“I enjoy the World Cup stops. They’re a lot of fun and the money is easy to earn, so I can spend time enjoying the sport when my last Olympics are over.”

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