SwimSwam got the chance to observe the Cal women welcome its alumni back to Spieker Aquatic Center in Berkeley, California last weekend. It was all smiles on Saturday morning as Dave Durden led both the current and past Cal women through a pretty lax workout, the main set of which was three rounds of 4×50, 1-3 slight descend, 4 easy. The alumni in the water included Natalie Coughlin (3x Olympian, 12x medalist), Mary T. Meagher (3x Olympian, 4x medalist), and Staciana Stitts (Olympic champion, 2000).
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I’d recognize that fly anywhere, even without the headlines. I was blessed to have watched up close at Lakeside Swim Club for a few years of magic in our pool. Mary T was incredibly driven with a tremendous work ethic, yet so very humble and kind. She was a joy to be around. Kudos to coaches Denny Pursley and the late Bill Peak who led the development of one of the greatest ever. They created such a wonderful environment that fostered great swimming from the late 70’s and into the 80’s.
Dude please get Mary T on the Swimswam podcast.
Little-known fact about Mary T: Had it not been for East Germans, she would have won six gold medals at 1986 Worlds, becoming the first woman to ever do so (27 years before Missy Franklin did it in 2013), and most interestingly, in addition to her signature butterfly events, she would have also been World champion in the 200m free.
yes please! She is a class act.
This is just simply magical, and what swimming is all about. Things have been toxic for some time, just glad to see this ray of sunshine.
Watching Mary T swim butterfly is still a thing of beauty.
Seriously. She is pushing 60 and I could still watch that stroke all day long.
Getting to see Mary T swim fly just on video is such a thrill – can’t imagine actually getting to swim with her
@Coleman, Did you spot Kathleen Baker or Katie McLaughlin while you were at Cal ?
Have you asked / heard about their current status (active, retired) ?
I did not spot either of them. I think Kathleen is living in North Carolina (just got married and is from there) and it would appear McLaughlin is still in the Bay area (all judging by recent Instagram posts). Not sure about either of their statuses in regard to swimming
Think Mary T and Natalie showing up is a vote against Teri and a major sign of support for current program
Would have loved to see NC race MTM in a 50 or 100 fly. Gotta think NC goes sub 56 w a few weeks training
I think it’s a sign of support for the current program.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s necessarily a vote against Teri. I know often in college swimming, when the “old coach” is pushed out for one reason or another, many people like to take it out on the “new coach,” but Natalie and Mary T. are surely matured to a little more nuance than that.
Natalie trained with Dave at the end of her career, and Mary T. never trained under Teri.
The combination of seeing Mary T. in the water, and hearing Foreigner playing in the background…. just fantastic on so many nostalgia-levels!
When I was in high school I wrote a ‘research’ essay on Mary T. It was right before the 1988 Seoul Olympics. I wrote her a letter asking what she did to prepare for an Olympic Games, not thinking for a second she’d respond. She wrote me back a multi-page hand-written letter, along with a copy of a magazine article about her training. I was amazed! All these years later, I still think the world of her. Pretty sure I got an “A” on the essay, too. 😀
Thank you for sharing that story! Mary T is the greatest female butterflyer of all time.