Canada's Mac Neil falls short of Olympic butterfly gold repeat

PARIS — No woman has repeated as Olympic butterfly champion in the women's 100 metres and try as she might, Canada's Maggie Mac Neil couldn't crack that nut.

The 24-year-old from London, Ont., was in the medal hunt after one of the fastest opening 50 metres of her career Sunday, but that drained her tank in a furious rush for the wall.

Tokyo's champion was fifth in Paris.

"It's hard enough to do once and to do it again is even harder," Mac Neil said. "The last couple of months, I've been really telling myself that I have nothing to prove to anyone — myself or anyone else."

Americans Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh went one-two ahead of bronze medallist Zhang Yufei of China.

"Torri's been a great competitor and she's had some really fast in-season swims this year," Mac Neil said. "This race was anyone's to win and it's great she got her hand on the wall."

Huske's winning time was 55.59 seconds ahead of teammate and world-record holder Walsh in 55.63 and bronze medallist Zhang's 56.21.

McNeil, who was fourth at the turn, came in at 56.44.

"In Tokyo, I think I was seventh after 50 and then kind of came back in the second 50," she explained.

"I've been working a lot in training over the last year and a half, two years, on my front-end speed knowing that it's not as great as everyone else. Maybe we put a little bit too much emphasis on that opening easy speed and not enough on the second 50."

Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivieres, Que., qualified eighth for the 200-metre freestyle final Monday on the same night that teammate Summer McIntosh and world-record holder will chase a medal in the 400-metre individual medley.

McIntosh, 17, earned 400-metre freestyle silver on opening day.

Harvey raced a world championship final in the 200 medley in 2022, but an Olympic 200 free final is new territory for the 24-year-old.

She and McIntosh were members of the women's 4 x 200 relay team that placed an agonizing fourth in Tokyo, so Harvey made speed in the 200 free her mission since then.

"Every time I was swimming it I was doing best times this year," she said. "Last year at worlds, I didn't make it through the prelims so that's already an improvement making the semi and the final.

"I remember in Tokyo when we came fourth, Summer and me were 'OK, we're going to get on the podium in Paris' That was always the goal for us and I wanted to be in the best possible shape to get that job done."

Saskatoon's Blake Tierney reached the semifinal of the men's 100-metre backstroke Sunday. The 22-year-old placed 16th.

Mac Neil stated her training was more than sufficient for Sunday's final, but she felt her first season out of college lacked sufficient race reps.

She didn't have the usual NCAA dual meets to get sharp, and May's trials ran up against European races she might have attended.

"The timing of things didn't really work out great for me as far as finding those competitions and places where I could practice racing the people that would be in this field," Mac Neil said.

"It's been hard for me to put together that race this year."

Mac Neil returned from her Olympic debut in Tokyo with a complete set of medals, including freestyle relay silver and medley relay bronze.

In what she's said is her final Olympic Games, Mac Neil still has the 100-metre freestyle and the women's medley relay to swim in Paris.

Mac Neil completed her master's degree in sport management at Louisiana State University this year and has law school aspirations.

She had no friends or family in Tokyo to celebrate her medals because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Her relatives and friends have made up for that in Paris with as many as 17 in La Defense Arena seats shouting her name.

"It's great to have their support, but that comes a little bit of pressure with that as well," MacNeil said. "I'm excited to share this experience with them. I know they're having a blast, and I can't wait to join them soon."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2024.