By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
“You definitely won’t see the last of me after Paris, that’s for sure.”
In an interview with Canadian national broadcaster CBC, star swimmer Maggie MacNeil talked about her goals and her timeline for leaving the sport.
MacNeil, 24, is part of a wave of young swimmers (along with names like Kate Douglass and Jake Foster) who have discussed leaving the sport in their primes to pursue other interests. In February of this year, she said that the Paris Olympic Games would be her last Olympic run, though it didn’t necessarily mean she would retire immediately thereafter.
She reaffirmed the plan to not immediately retire after the Games and also declared her goal of repeating as the Olympic gold medalist in the 100 fly, her best event.
No woman has ever won two Olympic gold medals in the 100 fly, let alone back-to-back gold medals.
“It’s stressful and pressure, obviously, to put it out there, to say that’s what I want, but I think by saying it out loud it makes it seem more real and makes you think about it in practice to motivate me every single day.”
MacNeil also talks about reframing what swimming has looked like for her after winning gold, when you’ve “accomplished the biggest thing in sport.”
“That’s something I learned after the last Olympics. You’ve gotta learn to love it and do it because you love the sport.”
Watch the full video clip below:
SwimSwam: Maggie MacNeil on Goal Setting and Reframing the Sport after Olympic Gold
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