2021 NCAA WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- When: Wednesday, March 17 – Saturday, March 20, 2021
- Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC (Eastern Time Zone)
- Prelims 10 AM / Finals 6 PM (Local Time)
- Short course yards (SCY) format
- Defending champion: Stanford (3x) – 2019 results
- Streaming: ESPN3
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results – Swimming
- Live Results – Diving
Michigan junior Maggie MacNeil has broken the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 100 butterfly, becoming the fastest woman in the event in history with a blazing fast 48.89.
She’s now the first woman under 49 seconds in this event, a remarkable achievement for the reigning World Champion in long course meters.
MacNeil previously was tied with former USC standout Louise Hansson for that record at 49.26, swimming that time at the Minnesota Invite in December 2019. We never got to see how she would’ve performed at the 2020 NCAA Championships, though, as they were canceled due to the onset of the pandemic.
In 2019, Hansson hit that 49.26 to win the NCAA title, as then-freshman MacNeil finished second in 49.66. During the 2019-20 season, her 49.26 led the nation.
SPLITS
- 22.67
- 26.22
MacNeil was the favorite in this event, but it seemed like Virginia’s Kate Douglass would make things a close race. MacNeil had no interest in that dynamic, however, shooting out to a lead at the first 50 turn, out in a skin-peeling 22.67. A miracle underwater specialist, MacNeil was back in 26.22, her second 50 also faster than any other swimmer in the field.
When she went 49.26 in December 2019, her splits were 23.27/25.99, so she was much more aggressive going out tonight.
Douglass finished second in the race in a new best of 49.55, holding her spot as the #6 performer in history.
MacNeil, who is favored to win the 100 fly this summer in Tokyo, is now .37 faster than any other woman in history in this event.
Whether as a coach or an athlete, I had never seen anyone swim as high in the water doing butterfly as Maggie just did. It was almost like she was skimming the surface.
…and she’s like 5’6″
big congrats! very impressive
She’s actually 5’7″. Don’t get that wrong.
As David Berkoff once said, “don’t believe everything you read on wikipedia”
👁👄👁
Impressive time, but why the hell is this meet so slow this year. Not ncaas for me
Guess you’re fun at swim meets…
uh limited training, training stops, no fans, covid
It is almost like there is some event that has completely changed the world, ruined everyone’s training, and changed teams around completely. Weird.
Holy moly!!
How long has it been since Canada has had a gold medal favourite heading into an Olympics??? The 80’s?
So proud!! 🇨🇦🇨🇦
Oleksiak was maybe the closest in 2016? She was on a rapid improvement curve and swimming FAST in the lead up to Rio. I think most people had her as a medal threat, but gold FAVORITE might’ve been a stretch when her events had Sjostrom and C Campbell
Penny was definitely not a gold medal favourite going into Rio, she was believed to have an outside shot at a minor medal or maybe get some relay medals since the Canadian relays were (and still are) quite strong. Her 4 medals in Rio were very surprising for most
I remember Victor Davis. RIP.
Also Alex Baumann.
My Canadian grandmother used to save newspaper clippings of their accomplishments and mail them to me.
Cool, for Canada. Very fast, like someone said in the 1960’s guys were aiming under 50 seconds.
No one had pegged Penny a good threat. She was barely 16 and part of a very young but promising🇨🇦 team that arguably over delivered in 2016. Maggie wasn’t even on that team but is now part of a large group of women who are legit medal threats:
Maggie 100fly
Sidney IMs and 2breast
Kylie Backstrokes
Taylor 100/200 frees and backs
Penny of course
Kelsey Wog breaststrokes
All 3 women’s relays
Hopefully a couple above will have everything fall into place and challenge for gold. Many podium possibilities and many depth swims them possibly even, making finals which in this day and age is incredibly tough on the women’s side.
Would have thought one of the Curling teams in the last winter Olympics was Canada’s last gold medal favorite.
Just kidding. Great swim and a great reason to be proud. Best of luck in Tokyo.
So Maggie set American Record. Since she is Canadian, does that change anything in the record? Is it called an open record or ?
She now has the US Open/NCAA record, but not the American record.
There are 3 relevant records here. The NCAA record. The fastest anyone has ever gone in NCAA competition in the event. Previously held by Hansson. Now held by MacNeil.
The US Open Record. The fastest anyone has ever gone on US soil in the event. This is effectively the “yards world record” as the US is the only place yards are a relevant distance. Previously held by Hansson. Now held by MacNeil.
The American record. The fastest any American has gone in the event. Previously held by Erika Brown. Still held by Erika Brown. MacNeil cannot break this record as she is not an American
Technically, there are two records here. The Continental Record (which MacNeil owns and has owned for a while) and the US National Record (which MacNeil is ineligible for). We like to use American Record to refer to the latter but a lot of people outside of the US use it to mean the former. I guess that’s what happens when you name your country after a continent – you get ambiguities.
The announcer was incorrect when he said she broke the American record.
Yeah, Sam K was pulling a Rowdy & was simply just excited out of his gourd. Can’t blame him though! A smashing, spectacular swim.
I upvoted you because even the SwimSwam editors got this wrong. From Maggie MacNeil’s SS bio page:
“On day 2, Macneil turned heads as she upset 4-time defending world champ Sarah Sjostrom in the 100 fly. Macneil had a huge turn at the 50 to run down Sjostrom and take gold in a new American record of 55.83.”
Can someone teach the uva girls how to smile after a race? Jeez tough crowd
Really? You are probably one of those people who walk up to women and girls you don’t know and tell them to smile just for you. That’s harassment.
I am a woman don’t assume my gender
No one mentioned a gender. Women also tell people to smile when they have no idea what is going on. Other peoples’ facial expressions are not your concern.
You need to loosen up, take a page out of 2009 Michael’s playbook
It’s cause they know Todd is gonna be mad at them for not living up to the “HYPE!!!!! UVA ALL DAY”
They have no obligation to smile or be likable to you or behave according to your warped notions of propriety. Thanks.