We would like to introduce you to Mary T. Meagher. She is a pretty amazing
woman! Mary had her first world record before she was fifteen! She was so
spectacular in the butterfly that she was nicknamed Madame Butterfly! Mary was
born on October 27, 1964 in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary began competing in
swimming competitions at an early age. "Our father went to Notre Dame on a
basketball scholarship, so sports and competition were a way of life around our
house," says Mary T. "My ten siblings and I had no trouble putting together
kickball teams on Saturday afternoons."
Mary was expected to compete for medals at the 1980 Olympic Games in Russia.
However, Mary, just like the rest of the United States Olympic team, sadly never
got her chance due to President Jimmy Carter’s boycott of the Olympics. The next
year Meagher gave one of the most amazing performances in competitive swimming
at the US National Swimming Championships held in Brown Deer, Wisconsin. Meagher
set the world records in the 200 and 100 meter butterfly; her times for both
records were near impossible. Both records stood for nearly 20 years. In college
she swam for the University of California at Berkley. She graduated in 1987. She
dominated NCAA championships by winning six titles! In the 1984 Olympics Mary
took home three gold medals in the 100m and 200m butterfly and the butterfly leg
in the relay. In 1988 she again took gold in the 200m butterfly. Mary was
selected to be in the International swimming Hall of fame in 1993! Mary owned 24
national titles by the time she retired.
Today Mary is married to speed skater Mike Plant and they live in a suburb of
Atlanta, Georgia with their two children, Madeline and Drew.
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