By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
2026 Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic
January 30-February 1, 2026 Rosen Aquatic and Fitness Center, Orlando, Florida Short Course Meters (25 meters) Live Meet Results (also on Meet Mobile)Olympic champion and swimming legend Mary T. (Meagher) Plant has dived head first into Masters swimming after many decades away from competition, and she has quickly become one of the sport’s leading figures globally.
At this weekend’s Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic, the 17th edition of one of the country’s biggest annual Masters swimming meets, Mary T. switched her club affiliation to St. Pete Masters. New USMS rules allow swimmers to change their club affiliation 3 times per year, and after that they are locked in until the next year.
St. Pete Masters is home to some of the country’s best Masters’ swimmers, and the group teamed up on Friday to break the 800 SCM freestyle relay World Record by a whopping 15 seconds.
Mary T. led off in 2:15.70, and she was followed by Alison Hayden (2:23.04), Erika Braun (2:16.24), and Penny Noyes (2:36.15). The relay’s final time of 9:31.13 was over 15 seconds ahead of the World Record (9:46.31) for aggregate age group 240-279. That old records was set by British club Harrogate in October 2024.
The World Record setters: Plant, Hayden, Braun, and Noyes. Courtesy: Erika Braun
Hayden is 55, Braun is 54, and Noyes is 72 (based on their age at the end of this year).
But that wasn’t the end of the road for the 61-year-old Olympic legend Plant. She came back on Saturday and posted a 2:36.16 in her specialty event, the 200 meter fly. That swim took almost four seconds off the World Record for the 60-64 age group, which was a 2:39.81 done by Canadian Ilka Lowensteyn in May 2025.
Fellow Olympian Vesna Shelnutt, who is 41 and represented Macedonia at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and was the 2001 European Junior Championships silver medalist in the 200 fly, swam in the same heat and finished in 2:31.39 to win the 40-44 age group.
Mary T. (Meagher) Plant and fellow Olympian Vesna Tojanovska. Courtesy: Erika Braun
Plant is scheduled to swim the 200 free, 50 free, 50 fly, 100 free, and 100 fly later in the meet.
After decades away from competition, Meagher returned to the pool as a Masters swimmer in 2025, swimming at several meets across the country
During her professional career, Plant 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 accumulated nine World Championship medals as well, two of which were gold. 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 15 and 14, 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.
The Rowdy Gaines Masters meet usually attracts a number of swimming celebrities each year from across the Southeastern United States. Gaines himself swam on Saturday, touching in 28.33 in the 25 free. He has an entry in the 50 free yet to come.
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