Mac Neil narrowly edged by McIntosh in 100m fly at Canadian Swimming Open, has no plans for retirement
Click on the video player above to watch live action from Date ay 4 of the Cana‐ dian Swimming Open in Toronto.
Canadian Olympic swim‐ ming champion Maggie Mac Neil took time on Friday ahead of her 100-metre but‐ terfly race at the Speedo Canadian Open to clarify a few things about her swim‐ ming future.
In February, during an in‐ terview with CBC Sports, Mac Neil said the Paris Olympics this summer would be her last Games.
"I would be happy if I re‐ tired now," Mac Neil said dur‐ ing that interview.
In the wake of that story Mac Neil heard from a lot of people, many who were fear‐ ful that the end of her career was seemingly imminent.
WATCH | Olympic cham‐ pion Mac Neil clarifies post-Paris future:
She's setting the record straight - Mac Neil isn't going anywhere fast, except in the pool.
"I've gotten a little slack on that headline," she said.
"I'm definitely not done with the sport after Paris, but I think I was just saying at that moment that I was be‐ cause four years is a long time to wait until L.A. And I mean, I do have ambitions outside the pool. So I was more talking about how I was excited to move on with that once my career has finally come to an end."
When she finally did take to the pool in the 100m fly fi‐ nal on Friday evening, Mac Neil found herself in a rivet‐ ing showdown with Canadian swimming phenom Summer McIntosh.
The two swimmers were essentially tied from start to finish but in the end it was McIntosh touching the wall first in a personal best time of 57.19. Mac Neil came in second in a time of 57.24.
More than anything this week's competition was a tune-up for the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic tri‐ als that take place on May 13-20 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
WATCH | McIntosh wins 100m fly, narrowly beating Olympic champion Mac Neil:
Mac Neil is looking to be‐ come the first woman ever to win two gold medals in the 100m butterfly at the Olympics - and she's not afraid to make that goal very clear.
"That's a goal that's in the back of my mind," she said.
"It's stressful and pres‐ sure, obviously, to put it out there and to say that that's what I want. But I think by saying it out loud, it makes it seem more real and makes me think about it. I think in practice it motivates me every single day."
Mac Neil has won every‐
thing there is to win the sport.
She has Olympic gold, world championships, NCAA titles, Commonwealth Games gold all to her name.
This past fall Mac Neil won a Canadian record seven medals at the Pan Am Games in Santiago.
The 24-year-old from Lon‐ don, Ont., has been part of elevating Canadian swim‐ ming to a different level for years.
Taking a moment to cel‐ ebrate achievements
And despite all of that suc‐ cess, it's only now that Mac Neil is slowly starting to cele‐ brate those achievements. She's been hyper focused on being great for so long now and looking forward to what's next on the competi‐ tion schedule.
"I had this interesting con‐ versation with Kylie [Masse] a couple of weeks ago we were talking about not taking enough time in the moment to celebrate what we've done," Mac Neil said.
"It's been always looking toward the next thing and I think that's something we need to get better at, is being able to sit in the moment and kind of just revel in it for yourself, but also with your teammates."
WATCH | Knox wins 50m breaststroke, 100m fly:
With the Olympics five months away Mac Neil along with the rest of the Canadian swimmers are in their final push for the Games.
Mac Neil says she will con‐ tinue training, and finishing her Masters, ahead of Paris a juggling act she's figured out.
"I think balance is an im‐ portant thing for me and es‐ pecially with finishing up my Masters. And I think my last exam is four days before tri‐ als. So just being able to do both and do both well is defi‐ nitely challenging and then adding travel and everything on top of that," Mac Neil said.
"But I think I've always been pretty good at manag‐ ing those kinds of things."
There was a time when it all felt like too much for Mac Neil. Not anymore.
"It's been a great ride and I'm just enjoying every single day of training and I love coming back to this facility and getting to see all my friends," she said.
"It's always good to recon‐ nect and there are people here that I'll know and have in my life probably forever."
WATCH | McIntosh leads from start finish to win 100m free: