Mary T. Meagher

American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former world record-holder

Mary Terstegge Meagher Plant (born October 27, 1964) is an American former compe*ion swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder. In 1981 she bettered her own existing world records in the 100-meter butterfly (57.93) and 200-meter butterfly (2:05.96). These times would stand as the respective world records for 18 and 19 years, and are considered to be among the greatest sports performances ever.

1 Early life
2 1980 Boycott and on
3 Personal life
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Early life

Meagher is the daughter of two-time Notre Dame basketball letterman James L. Meagher. She was a compe*ive athlete from an early age. At the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she set her first world record—at the age of 14—in the 200-meter butterfly. "When she was a teenager, Mary showed no weaknesses," reflected Dennis Pursley, one of her early coaches. "Every athlete I've ever known had some form of weakness, be it in terms of motivation, technique or physical attributes, but Mary was the exception." She graduated from the Sacred Heart Academy high school in Louisville, Kentucky, alongside her sister, future U.S. Representative Anne Northup.

1980 Boycott and on

Meagher was expected to compete for medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. However, Meagher, along with the rest of the United States Olympic team, never got her chance due to the American-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

However, in 1981 Meagher gave one of the most memorable performances in compe*ive swimming at the U.S. Swimming National Championships held in Brown Deer, Wisconsin in 1981. At the meet, Meagher set world records in both the 200-meter and 100-meter butterfly, the two primary distances at which the butterfly is contested in compe*ive swimming. The times for both records were considered astonishing, especially the record of 57.93 seconds that Meagher set in the 100-meters—a drop of over a second. Both times would stand as the world records for nearly two decades: American swimmer Jenny Thompson lowered the 100-meter record in 1999, while Susie O'Neill of Australia set the record in the 200-meter a year later. Some have argued that Meagher's records in the butterfly were among the most impressive records ever set in sport, let alone swimming, ranking among such noteworthy records as Bob Beamon's long jump world record in 1968. These two swims led Meagher to being named Female World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine, which she again won in 1985.

Meagher attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she swam for the California Golden Bears swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic *ociation (NCAA) and Pacific-10 Conference compe*ion. She received the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving twice, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year in 1984–85 and again in 1986–87. In 1987, she also won the Honda Broderick Cup as the nation's top female collegiate athlete. She graduated from the University of California in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Meagher won gold medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly races, along with another gold by swimming the butterfly leg of the women's 4×100-meter medley relay for the winning U.S. team in the event final. Returning to compete at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Meagher won a bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly. By the time she left compe*ive swimming, Meagher had won 24 U.S. national swimming *les.

Personal life

Meagher was the 10th of 11 siblings. She married former speed skater Mike Plant. They now live in Peachtree City, Georgia, with their two children, Maddie and Drew. Mike Plant's brother and Meagher's brother-in-law, Tom Plant, was also a speed skater and Olympian. Meagher's older sister Anne Meagher Northup served as a US Congresswoman.

In Louisville a swimming complex is named for Meagher, and a street is named in her honor in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

References

External links

Mary T. Meagher at the International Swimming Hall of Fame
Mary T. Meagher at the USOPC Hall of Fame
Mary T. Meagher at Olympics.com
Mary T. Meagher at Olympedia

Honda Cup

1976: Harris
1978: Meyers
1979: Lieberman
1980: Shea
1981: Sterkel
1982: Caulkins
1983: De. Collins
1984: Caulkins & C. Miller
1985: Joyner
1986: Ethridge
1987: Meagher
1988: Weatherspoon
1989: Huber
1990: Favor
1991: Staley
1992: Marlowe
1993: L. Fernandez
1994: Hamm
1995: Lobo
1996: Rizzotti
1997: Daws
1998: Holdsclaw
1999: May
2000: Teuscher
2001: Stiles
2002: A. Williams
2003: Watley
2004: Kirk
2005: Nnamani
2006: Sinclair
2007: Pavan
2008: Parker
2009: Kupets
2010: Hodge & Moore
2011: Moore
2012: Griner
2013: Ricketts
2014: Jacob
2015: Franklin
2016: B. Stewart
2017: Ledecky
2018: Manuel
2019: Garcia
2020: No award
2021: Garcia

Inspiration

1988: Roethlisberger
1989: Jacobs
1990: Robertson
1991: T. Nichols
1992: Stepp
1993: Mead
1994: H. Scott
1995: A. Johnson
1996: Carson
1998: H. Anderson
1999: J. Jones
2000: Olson
2001: Berner
2002: Koetsier
2003: McPherson
2004: Gunn
2005: Kroon
2006: Payne
2007: Kohut
2008: Knight
2009: Hester
2010: Cobb
2011: Breland
2012: Delle Donne
2013: Mingo
2014: Gilliland
2015: McGee-Stafford
2016: Fogle
2017: N. Stafford
2018: Cunningham
2019: Fessler
2020: No award
2021: O'Neal

Div II

1988: Brinton
1989: Cobbs
1990: Hardy
1991: Saunders
1992: Hand
1993: C. Allen
1994: Metro
1995: Coetzee
1996: Clarkson
1997: Morlock
1998: Penner
1999: Almazan
2000: Even
2001: Martin
2002: N. Duncan
2003: Gregg
2004: Gomez
2005: Lewallen
2006: Erb
2007: Hanavan
2008: Braegelmann
2009: Erb
2010: McNamara
2011: Macy
2012: Daugherty
2013: Daugherty
2014: Battista
2015: Dickinson
2016: Oren
2017: Muscaro
2018: Kurgat
2019: Reiss
2020: No award

Div III

1988: Beachy
1989: Prineas
1990: Grierson
1991: Gilbert
1992: K. Oden
1993: Carter
1994: Ainsworth
1995: Albers
1996: Swan
1997: Ta. Johnson
1998: Speckman
1999: Schade
2000: Fischer
2001: Rogers
2002: Bergofsky
2003: Hysell
2004: M. Gordon
2005: Buttry
2006: Silva
2007: Bondi
2008: Zerzan
2009: Huston
2010: Borner
2011: Stern
2012: Hagensen
2013: Fournier
2014: Cazzolla
2015: Fournier
2016: Moss
2017: Crist
2018: Chong
2019: Temple
2020: No award

Mary T. Meagher Is A Member Of

59 Year Olds

Mary

Louisville, Kentucky