NCAA Women’s Championships: Maggie Mac Neil Scorches NCAA Record in 50 Freestyle
For the crowd watching, it was an NCAA record. For Maggie Mac Neil, it was redemption and validation.
One year after injuries derailed her shot at defending her NCAA titles, Mac Neil, now swimming for LSU, won the 50 freestyle in 20.79 to break the NCAA record in the event. It was four hundredths faster than Virginia’s Gretchen Walsh was at ACCs.
“It definitely means a lot. The 50 free is still my fun event. I went into it with a clear head and I was aiming to go out faster and work on some technical aspects,” Mac Neil said. “This is so much (validation). After this morning, I tied what I went in finals last year, so I knew that was already a step in the right direction.”
Mac Neil turned first and got to the wall in 20.79 to break the NCAA record in the event. She also had a faster reaction time, by a tenth, which put Walsh ever so slightly behind off the start.
“I knew it was going to be a great race with Gretchen. She is so good at the 50 free, so I wanted to make sure I stayed with her,” Mac Neil said. “Now it is about being able to finish the meet on my terms, which I didn’t get to do last year.”
For Mac Neil, it was an extra sweet win. After battling an injury last year and not swimming as fast as she hoped, she transferred to LSU for her graduate year and made her way back to the top of the podium after winning two events for Michigan two years ago.
The Tigers qualified several swimmers for this meet, and with Mac Neil, are having one of their best showings in school history after earning All-American honors in the 200 free relay.
“It has been amazing and it hasn’t just been me. We have four individual qualifiers and the relays. We knew we had a shot at being top eight, and that was the goal,” she said. “At Michigan, they had three back-to-back Big Ten titles. They were built already. It is different, but it has been a really good experience.”
Walsh was in 20.85 and Louisville’s Gabi Albiero was third in 21.30.
Ohio State’s Teresa Ivan finished fourth in 21.46 ahead of NC State’s Katharine Berkoff (21.54).
Mac Neil was the second-fastest from prelims, but had some technical difficulties.
“My goggles snapped three heats before my 50. I grabbed someone from Tennessee and she lent me hers. So there was a little more adrenaline than there probably would have been normally,” Mac Neil said.
Ohio State’s Amy Fulmer won the NCAA consolation final in 21.74.
Event 5 Women 50 Yard Freestyle
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 20.83 2/15/2023 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
Meet: M 20.84 3/17/2022 Kate Douglass, Virginia
American: A 20.83 2/15/2023 Kate Douglass, Virginia
US Open: O 20.83 2/15/2023 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
Pool: P 20.94 11/17/2022Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 MacNeil, Maggie 5Y LSU 21.38 20.79N 20
r:+0.64 10.11 20.79 (10.68)
2 Walsh, Gretchen SO Virginia 21.00 20.85P 17
r:+0.74 10.18 20.85 (10.67)
3 Albiero, Gabi JR Louisville 21.46 21.30 16
r:+0.61 10.31 21.30 (10.99)
4 Ivan, Teresa SO Ohio St 21.71 21.46 15
r:+0.64 10.50 21.46 (10.96)
5 Berkoff, Katharine SR NC State 21.68 21.54 14
r:+0.66 10.52 21.54 (11.02)
6 Countie, Grace SR UNC 21.51 21.67 13
r:+0.68 10.50 21.67 (11.17)
7 Regenauer, Christiana SR Louisville 21.68 21.68 12
r:+0.73 10.62 21.68 (11.06)
8 Cuomo, Lexi SR Virginia 21.61 21.71 11
r:+0.70 10.45 21.71 (11.26)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Fulmer, Amy SR Ohio St 21.87 21.74 9
r:+0.67 10.70 21.74 (11.04)
10 Turak, Ashley SR Indiana 21.90 21.81 7
r:+0.62 10.60 21.81 (11.21)
11 Antoniou, Kalia 5Y Alabama 21.82 21.85 6
r:+0.72 10.60 21.85 (11.25)
12 Dennis, Julia FR Louisville 21.73 21.87 5
r:+0.64 10.50 21.87 (11.37)
13 Paegle, Kristina FR Indiana 21.98 21.99 4
r:+0.70 10.66 21.99 (11.33)
14 Parker, Maxine JR Virginia 21.92 22.01 2.5
r:+0.73 10.74 22.01 (11.27)
14 McCarty, Eboni SO Georgia 21.86 22.01 2.5
r:+0.67 10.66 22.01 (11.35)
16 McSharry, Mona JR Tennessee 21.89 22.02 1
r:+0.67 10.53 22.02 (11.49)
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 5
1. Virginia 168.5 2. Texas 115
3. Louisville 85 4. Stanford 72
5. Georgia 66.5 6. NC State 66
7. Ohio St 62 8. Indiana 61
8. Tennessee 61 10. California 60
11. Alabama 50 12. Wisconsin 49
13. Florida 47 14. UNC 35
15. Lsu 20 16. Southern California 14
16. Kentucky 14 18. Duke 13
19. Virginia Tech 6 19. Michigan 6
21. UCLA 4 21. Arkansas 4
21. Arizona St 4 24. Auburn 2
