Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil Enters NCAA Transfer Portal, Keeping Options Open for Grad School

Maggie MacNeil. Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media

Canada’s Maggie MacNeil, who won Olympic gold in the 100 butterfly earlier this week, has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

MacNeil won NCAA championships in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle earlier this year for the University of Michigan and is a 12-time All-American for the Wolverines. She was named the CSCAA Swimmer of the Meet.

She will be a senior at Michigan in the fall and confirmed with Swimming World that she was in the transfer portal and that she plans to stay at Michigan this year.

Another benefit to being in the transfer portal is she can talk with other coaches without it being a violation, which at the Olympics has been big since former Michigan assistant coach Rick Bishop is now the head coach at LSU, hence the timing.

“I (entered the portal) for fall 2022,” Maggie MacNeil said. “Firstly, I wanted to get my name out there, as scholarships tend to become scarce as fall hits. By my main reason for entering during Tokyo was so I could still have contact with Rick, and not be breaking NCAA rules.”

The 21-year-old, who had dreamed of becoming an Olympian since her first swim meet in 2008 and found out about her selection via Zoom in 2021, surged to the wall in an Americas record time of 55.59 in the 100 butterfly to claim the gold medal.

It was a stunning performance for the London Ontario native, who was born in Jiujiang, in China’s Jiangxi Province, before being adopted and moving to Canada.

The University of Michigan is not far from her Ontario home and Maggie MacNeil is a 14-time Big Ten champion (2021: 50-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Butterfly, 400-yard Freestyle Relay; 2020: 50-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Butterfly, 400-yard Freestyle Relay, 200-yard Medley Relay, 400-yard Medley Relay; 2019: 50-yard Freestyle, 100-yard Butterfly, 200-yard Freestyle Relay, 400-yard Freestyle Relay).

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