By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
Every swimmer, after they end the initial phase of their competitive swimming career, experiences a range of emotions. Some combination of nostalgia, relief, and wondering.
Anybody who went through a serious swimming career has a timeline on how long it takes them to process and return in some capacity to a different variety of competition. Some launch right into Masters swimming, while others never compete again.
World Record holder and American swimming legend Mary T. Meagher retired from swimming after the 1988 Olympic Games, and is now returning to competition – in Masters competition.
After swimming a pair of meets in yards in March, Meagher will swim her first meters meet that we could find in 37 years this weekend in Augusta, Georgia. Meagher, who know goes by Mary M Plant, is entered in the 50, 100 and 200 meter butterflies – the same stroke in which she once dominated the world.
The 60-year-old Meagher is entered with estimated times.
In March, she swam 42.52 in the 50 yard free in her first meet, back, and then a week later swam 28.34 in the 50 yard fly, 1:04.03 in the 100 yard fly, and 2:29.48 in the 200 yard fly. That 50 fly time was just 1.33 seconds off the USMS National Record for the 60-64 age group that was set by Ellen Reynolds earlier this year.
In her first swimming career, Meagher won five Olympic medals, including golds in the 100 fly, 200 fly, and 400 medley relay at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She held the World Record in the 100-meter fly from 1980 until 1999 and the 200 fly from 1979 until 2000, setting those records when she was 16 and 15, respectively.
Her 200 fly time of 2:05.96 from 1981 remains the U.S. National Age Group Record in that event 44 years later, one of the oldest records on the books.
Whether it was the nostalgia of an upcoming Los Angeles Olympics, curiosity, or decades of processing that led to her return, Meagher’s presence in Masters Swimming will be a thrill for a generation of her fans who now find themselves competing against the swimmer who was once the star of the sport. That’s a fun full-circle moment for the sport. The times and the results don’t necessarily carry the same weight as they once did, but the pathway back to the racing certainly does for all of us.
Watch Meagher’s World Record in the 200 fly from 1981 below:
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