Mary T. Meagher

Mary T. Meagher

Personal information
Full name	Mary Terstegge Meagher Plant
Nickname(s)	T, Madam Butterfly
Nationality	United States
Born	October 27, 1964 (1964-10-27) Louisville, USA
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Butterfly
College team	Cal Bears
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Gold 1984 Los Angeles 100 m butterfly Gold 1984 Los Angeles 200 m butterfly Gold 1984 Los Angeles 4x100 m medley Bronze 1988 Seoul 200 m butterfly World Championships (LC) Gold 1982 Guayaquil 100 m butterfly Gold 1986 Madrid 200 m butterfly Silver 1982 Guayaquil 200 m butterfly Silver 1982 Guayaquil 4x100 m medley Silver 1986 Madrid 4x100 m freestyle Silver 1986 Madrid 4x200 m freestyle Silver 1986 Madrid 4x100 m medley Bronze 1986 Madrid 100 m butterfly Bronze 1986 Madrid 200 m freestyle Pan American Games Gold 1979 San Juan 100 m butterfly Gold 1983 Caracas 200 m butterfly Summer Universiade Gold 1985 Kobe 100 m butterfly Gold 1985 Kobe 200 m butterfly Gold 1985 Kobe 4x200 m freestyle Gold 1985 Kobe 4x100 m medley Pan Pacific Championships Gold 1985 Tokyo 100 m butterfly Gold 1985 Tokyo 200 m butterfly

Mary Terstegge ("Mary T.") Meagher Plant (born October 27, 1964 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an Olympic champion and former World Record holding swimmer from the United States. In 1981 she bettered her own existing World Records in the 100m (57.93) and 200m butterfly (2:05.96): these marks stood as the respective World Records for 18 and 19 years, and are considered to be among the greatest sports performances ever.

Early life

Meagher, began competing at an early age, setting her first world record in the butterfly at the age of 14 in 1979 at the Pan American Games. She completed her education at the Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, alongside her sister, who gained fame as a member of the US House Representatives. Also, Mary T. Meagher is a Behavioral and Cellular Neuroscientist.

1980 Boycott and on

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

However, in 1981 Meagher gave one of the most memorable performances in competitive 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 competitive swimming. The times for both records were considered astonishing, especially the record of 57.93 seconds that Meagher set in the 100 m—a drop of over a second. Both times would stand as the World Record for nearly two decades: American swimmer Jenny Thompson lowered the 100 m record in 1999, while Susie O'Neill of Australia set the record in the 200 m 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 "T" to being named Female World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World magazine, which she again won in 1985. She swam collegiately for the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1987 with a BA in Social Sciences.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California Meagher won gold medals in both the 100 m and 200 m butterfly races, along with another gold by swimming the butterfly leg of the women's medley relay. Returning to compete at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Meagher won a bronze medal in the 200 m butterfly. By the time she left competitive swimming, Meagher had won 24 US national swimming titles.

Post swimming

Meagher married former speed skater Mike Plant; they now live in Peachtree City, Georgia with their two children Maddie and Drew. Meagher is also the sister of former Kentucky Republican Representative Anne Northup. There is a swimming complex in Louisville named for Meagher, as well as a street in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games

References

• Meagher's bio from the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Records
Preceded by Andrea Pollack	Women's 100 metre butterfly world record holder (long course) April 11, 1980 – August 23, 1999	Succeeded by Jenny Thompson
Preceded by Andrea Pollack	Women's 200 metre butterfly world record holder (long course) July 7, 1979 – May 17, 2000	Succeeded by Susie O'Neill
Awards
Preceded by Petra Schneider	World Swimmer of the Year 1981	Succeeded by Petra Schneider
Preceded by Kristin Otto	World Swimmer of the Year 1985	Succeeded by Kristin Otto
Preceded by Tracy Caulkins	World American Swimmer of the Year 1985	Succeeded by Betsy Mitchell
Preceded by Lisa L. Ice Jon L. Louis Cheryl Miller John C. Moffet Dub W. Myers Megan L. Neyer	Todays Top VI Award Class of 1988 Regina K. Cavanaugh Charles D. Cecil Keith J. Jackson Gordon C. Lockbaum Mary T. Meagher David Robinson	Succeeded by Dylann Duncan Suzanne T. McConnell Betsy Mitchell Anthony P. Phillips Thomas K. Schlesinger Mark M. Stepnoski