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After accomplishing something only done once before in the history of women’s swimming, Michigan’s Olivia Carter and Maggie Mac Neil share a special bond at “Butterfly U.”
The duo swept the butterfly events at last year’s NCAA championships and now call the University of Michigan, or at least themselves “Butterfly U” as they embrace what they have accomplished, and look to do it again.
“Getting the title and standing on the podium was amazing, then realizing we want to do it again adds a little bit of expectation. That has been an added challenge and mental hurdle this year, but it is so much easier to go about it with someone like Maggie,” Olivia Carter told Swimming World. “We make a really great team.”
It was only the second time in NCAA history that teammates swept the butterfly titles. A handful of swimmers have won both themselves over the years, but Mac Neil and Carter are just the second set of teammates to accomplish the feat together, joining Florida’s Dara Torres and Julie Gorman in 1988.
They added another layer to “Butterfly U” at the Big Ten Championships, sweeping the events, but also going 1-2 in the 100 butterfly, side-by-side.
“Having the title and having to defend it has a whole other meaning. It is one thing to get to the top and it is a another thing to stay there. It is definitely something that we are working toward doing again. I am excited to see what we can do,” Maggie Mac Neil told Swimming World.
Mac Neil showed the world what she can do.
At last year’s NCAA Championships, she was named Swimmer of the Meet after winning two events and finishing runner-up in another. She then went to the Tokyo Olympics representing her native Canada and won the Olympic gold medal in the 100 butterfly. If that wasn’t enough of a year, she finished 2021 with a world title and world record in the short-course 50 backstroke in December.
“It has been a whirlwind that is just starting to settle down now. I have been really busy, especially with the new NIL rules, which has contributed to that. Tokyo for me was about solidifying my spot and proving 2019 wasn’t a fluke. Quarantine before NCAAs and before Canadian trials was not ideal, nor swimming in my backyard pool during the pandemic, but the results that we got were more than I was expecting. But I also knew I was capable of something like that,” Mac Neil said.
Photo Courtesy: Daryl Marshke/Michigan Photography
That confidence started when she won the 2019 world championship in the 100 butterfly, but her NCAA performance last year, going head-to-head with Virginia Olympian Kate Douglass in three events, boosted that confidence.
“It was my first time racing Kate Douglass in person. It was good to get that racing in before the Olympics. It definitely helped,” Mac Neil said. “It definitely helped a lot racing Kate. I learned I can push the front half and still be able to come back. It was important to learn about my development as an athlete, and something I took forward. I am still working toward more front-end speed, and swimming against Kate pushes that to its limit. The fact that we raced each other three times, it gave me more motivation after I lost the first round, and I am sure it gave her more motivation after she lost the second round. Going into that 100 free on the last day was an all-in race to see who could get to the wall first, and it was a really great race.”
Carter also showed the world what she can do, surging to the 200 butterfly NCAA title. The aim for a repeat title has been a challenge.
“I feel like I had several breakout points within elite competition: Juniors, nationals NCAAs. Winning NCAAs was one of my biggest goals. Not only was I achieving that goal, but it was getting my name out there, something I hope to continue to do in that sense,” Carter said. “I have been less focused on repeating and more focused on time goals. If it achieves tin the winning position, great, if not, those are still big goals and times. I am obviously not going to give it up easy. It is a coping mechanism to get rid of some of the stress that I am getting. I can’t control what other people are going to go, and this helps me block that stuff out.”
But Carter is putting together a more complete butterfly. She has long been one of the best leg-driven swimmers in the world, but now she has added another layer to her powerful legs. That was on display at the Big Ten Championships as she broker her own meet record to win the 200 butterfly in 1:51.83.
“I had an interesting start to my season. I had an injury and it forced me to work upper body. I had to pull for about a month. That has actually been very beneficial for me because that is an area of my swimming and body composition that I am just not as strong at,” Carter said. “I feel much stronger and am seeing that be directly reflective in my butterfly. I can become more reliant on my upper body. That started to be reflected in my midseason meet. I am really excited to see how it all comes together for Big Tens and NCAAs because I know I am stronger. It is one thing to know you are stronger, and it is another thing to be able to implement that into your stroke. That is going to be enormously beneficial for me.
“It is allowing me to focus more on the pull of the stroke. I have the power to pull myself further and rely a little less on my kick. It is a really powerful gliding stroke.”
A complete and powerful stroke is how a champion takes the next step, something Carter is hoping to prove at NCAAs, just as Mac Neil is and the result will just add to the legacy of Michigan’s “Butterfly U.”
Last year Delta State in Division II did the same with Lucia Martelli winning the 100 fly and Celeste Turner winning the 200.