Canada's Maggie Mac Neil prepares to enter the water in the women's 50m freestyle swim event at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
SANTIAGO, Chile – Maggie Mac Neil became Canada’s most decorated Pan American Games athlete with her fifth gold medal in the pool in Santiago, Chile.
The 23-year-old from London, Ont., swam the butterfly leg to help Canada win the women’s 4 x 100 medley relay on the final night of Pan Am Games swimming.
Mac Neil was also a gold medallist in the women’s 100-metre butterfly, 100-metre freestyle and 50-metre freestyle and 4 x 100 freestyle relay.
Her fifth trip to the top of the Pan Am podium surpassed the four gold by swimmer Jessica Deglau (1999), table tennis player Lijuan Geng (1995 and) and gymnast Ernestine Russell-Carter (1959).
Mac Neil also set a record for the most medals won at a single Pan American Games with seven. She was a member of the mixed relay teams that won a silver and a bronze medal.
Deglau and swimmers Marianne Limpert and Joanne Malar (1995) and Ralph Hutton (1967) won six.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2023.
