MACNEIL Margaret

Date of Birth: 26 Feb 2000

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Birth Country:

People's Republic of China

Place of residence : LONDON, ON

Residence Country:

Canada

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Swimming	Women's 100m Butterfly	1
	Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay CAN Canada	2
	Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay CAN Canada	3

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Butterfly - Heat 3	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay - Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Butterfly Semifinal 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Butterfly Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay - Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

World Championships

Year	Location	50Fly	100Fly	4x100Free W	4x100Free X	4x100Medley W	4x100Medley X
2019	Gwangju, KOR	SF (26.28)	1st (55.83)	3rd (3:31.78)	4th	3rd (3:53.58)	5th (3:43.06)

Legend
Free - Freestyle, Back - Backstroke, Breast - Breaststroke, Fly - Butterfly, IndMed - Individual Medley, SF - Semifinal, H - Heats, DNS - Did Not Start, M - Men, W - Women, X - Mixed, DSQ - Disqualified, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not swim in final

Volleyball, playing the violin and clarinet. (swimming.ca, 21 Mar 2021)

Occupation:

Athlete, Student

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Languages spoken:

University of Michigan [USA] / London Aquatics Centre [CAN]

Richard Bishop [Michigan]; Andrew Craven [London]; Ben Titley [national], GBR

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (fina.org, 05 Dec 2019; omny.fm, 13 Aug 2019)

Philosophy:

"The comfort zone is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there." (Facebook profile, 01 Aug 2020)

While representing the University of Michigan [UM], she was named Collegiate Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Division I Swimmer of the Year for 2021. She has also been named Big Ten Conference Swimmer of the Year in both 2020 and 2021, Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year for 2019, and was Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships in 2020. She was chosen as UM Female Athlete of the Year and was one of four finalists for the Honda Sports Award for swimming in 2020. (swimming.ca, 21 Mar 2021; mgoblue.com, 01 Nov 2020; mgoblue.com, 01 Sep 2019)

In 2019 she was named Canadian Female Swimmer of the Year and Breakout Swimmer of the Year in the Swammy awards, awarded by swimming website swimswam.com. (swimswam.com, 29 Dec 2019; swimswam.com, 01 Sep 2019)

General Interest

General
ASTHMA CHANGES DISTANCE FOCUS
She was diagnosed with sports-induced asthma after competing at the 2017 World Cup in Singapore, and subsequently began focusing on shorter distance events. "It was so humid in Singapore I couldn't breathe. I got home and finally went to a respirologist and found out I have sports-induced asthma, which can be worse with chlorine exposure." Looking for a way to overcome the asthma, she began focusing on shorter distances and worked with a specialist to find the right balance of medication. "I've got what works for me now, and I've focused on sprinting and gotten better. I don't see myself focusing on longer races again because sprinting is working out pretty well." (fina.org, 05 Dec 2019)

UNEXPECTED WORLD TITLE
She beat her idol, Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom, on her way to winning gold in the final of the 100m butterfly at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. "Zero per cent of me thought that [winning gold] was possible. I just thought it would be cool to get a medal. Gold was never in the cards. I don't want to say I counted it out, but I never thought I was going to win." At first she didn't realise she had won the race because she doesn't wear contact lenses when she swims, and couldn't see the results clearly on the scoreboard. "Emma McKeon was the one that told me, because I couldn't see." (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 03 Jan 2020; fina.org, 05 Dec 2019)

YOUNG RELAY TEAM
At age 19 years and 145 days she was the oldest member of the Canadian 4x100m freestyle relay team that won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea. Her teammates in the final were Kayla Sanchez [18 years and 105 days], Penny Oleksiak [19 years and 38 days] and Taylor Ruck [19 years and 54 days]. "We were the only [4x100m freestyle relay] team where every member was under 20. That definitely bodes well for 2020 and 2024 [Olympic Games], and if the youngsters keep improving, 2028 and beyond. It is incredible. Our average age was 18.75." (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 03 Jan 2020)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal
:: Silver Medal
:: Bronze Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos