Canadian swimming star Maggie Mac Neil prioritizing mental health ahead of upcoming worlds | CBC Sports

“I always thought I was invincible. I was completely normal and fine in high school and most of college. But I think this year was a little more difficult for me,” Mac Neil explained.

In February, Mac Neil approached Swimming Canada’s High Performance Director John Atkinson and shared some of her concerns over expectations for her.

Mac Neil explains it was during that meeting the two came up with a plan to sit out the individual events during worlds and focus solely on relays.

“It’s hard to stay at the top and that pressure really got to me. I need a chill summer. I don’t want to be out of international competition. I want to train and compete well for Canada but I needed that little bit of a let up I guess,” Mac Neil said.

“Your mental and physical health comes before you as an athlete. So they [Swimming Canada] definitely have been thinking of us as a person first which is so important. I’m grateful for that.”

Support from Swimming Canada

Atkinson says he was equally grateful for Mac Neil coming forward with her concerns and gladly spent the time with her mapping out what the next number of months look like.

“We always will be receptive to our athletes and supportive. At the end of the day, the athlete as people comes first. The athletes have their own thoughts and aspirations. And our aspirations pretty much match theirs and you have to work with them to get there,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson says he believes that the individual approach to each athlete’s needs is allowing Canadian swimmers to excel in the pool.

“What counts is how the athlete is now and how they get to Paris and motivated for the next Olympics,” he said.

“You have to treat every athlete as an individual. We don’t have hard set rules. We’ll work with each athlete on what they need and how we can help.”

Mac Neil has been nothing short of remarkable in the pool over the last number of years. The 22-year-old from London, Ont., has won just about everything there is to win in swimming.

In Tokyo, she won a medal of every colour including Olympic gold in her specialty event the 100-metre butterfly. She followed that up with four gold and a silver at the 2021 short-course world swimming championships in Abu Dhabi.

WATCH | Mac Neil wins Canada’s 1st gold of Tokyo Olympics:

Mac Neil is also a two-time NCAA champion with the Michigan Wolverines.

But for as much as the accolades are flattering and winning is always the goal, Mac Neil says the pressure of being great at every meet has been starting to become too much.

“It’s challenging. I love being myself and all the opportunities I’ve gotten and come across over the last six months,” she said.

“Usually I’m pretty calm about it all. I try to keep a level head and not let my emotions get too high or too low. But I think sometimes the nerves get to me and I get really quiet and reserved and overthink things.”

To compound matters, during NCAA championships in March, Mac Neil slipped and fell on the pool deck and ended up with a slight fracture in her elbow. It’s nothing major according to Mac Neil, however, it will require some rehabilitation over the next number of weeks.

“It was really badly bruised so I just assumed it was a bone bruise,” Mac Neil said. “Just to be safe I got a CT scan on Monday and an MRI yesterday, and it turns out I have a small fracture.”

Mac Neil wins 100m fly at trials

That didn’t stop Mac Neil from competing in the 100m fly final Wednesday night in Victoria. She won the race in a time of 57.13 seconds and earned her spot on the national team heading to Budapest in the middle of June.

Mac Neil will compete only in the relay events, with the plan to return to the 100m fly event at the Commonwealth Games later in the summer.

“I definitely feel relieved by this move. I’m so grateful for John and the doctors and Team Canada as a whole for supporting me as I made those decisions and supporting me for selection criteria at this meet,” Mac Neil said.

What Mac Neil is experiencing is not unlike what another Canadian superstar swimmer faced and has publicly talked about in the wake of her Olympic success as well.

Penny Oleksiak shot to stardom after her breakout performances in Rio at the age of 16. Oleksiak became the first Canadian athlete to win four medals at a single summer Games.

She was seemingly on top of the world but away from the spotlight Oleksiak was crashing under the weight of pressure to remain on top.

“After 2016 there was a lot of pressure on every meet I went to. I was expected to win every race I did. It kind of felt like everyone was watching me,” Oleksiak told CBC’s Adrienne Arsenault during an interview in the lead up to Tokyo.

WATCH | Penny Oleksiak discusses pressures of swimming at top level:

Penny Oleksiak: The pressure of swimming as a champion

Penny Oleksiak dominated the Rio Olympics in 2016 as a teenager, but dealing with the pressure that followed took its toll. She talks to Adrienne Arsenault about handling the stress and preparing for an Olympic comeback. 8:06

It took a couple of years of Oleksiak working through that before she was able to find her love of swimming again — but more than anything work through the expectations other people had of her.

Oleksiak’s experience is not lost on Mac Neil, who wants to be part of the change in sport when it comes to speaking out when the burden of being the best becomes too much.

“I’ve seen people and teammates go through and I’ve been there for them. I hope they can do the same and I know they will,” Mac Neil said.

“Mental health has been more on the forefront of everyone’s minds lately and it’s great the stigma is ending. You don’t have to question it.”

WATCH | Kylie Masse breaks Canadian 50m backstroke record at national trials:

Kylie Masse sets new Canadian record in 50 metre backstroke at trials

Kylie Masse of Windsor, Ont., broke the Canadian record in the 50 metre backstroke with a time of 27.18 Wednesday in Victoria, B.C. 1:26