Mary Terstegge Meagher Plant (born October 27, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer, who swam for U.California Berkeley, a three-time 1984 Olympic champion, and a world record-holder. In 1981 she bettered her own existing world records in the 100-meter butterfly (57.93) and 200-meter butterfly (2:05.96). These times would stand as the world records for 18 and 19 years, respectively, and are considered by many swimming historians to be among the all-time greatest sports performances by a competitive swimmer.
Early life
Meagher was born the 10th of 11 siblings
Early swimming
Mary first began swimming during the summers at Louisville's River Road Country Club, where her father, a golf enthusiast, had been a founding member. By the age of eight, Meagher trained and competed first for Louisville's Plantation Country Club, and by fourteen for Louisville's Lakeside Swim Club where through the age of 16, she was managed and coached primarily by Lakeside's future Hall of Fame Coach Dennis Pursley, and as a High School upperclassman by Coach Bill Peak, who had also coached at Plantation. Peak trained Meagher for a total of five years at Lakeside, where he was assisted by Coaches Scott Miller and Mike Powell, and would later coach her for seven months prior to the 1988 Olympics. At the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she set her first world record—at the age of 14—in the 200-meter butterfly.
In February 1982, swimming as a Senior for Sacred Heart Academy at the Kentucky State Swimming Championships, Meagher easily won the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 56.11, and won the 500-yard freestyle, placing ahead of the second place competitor by a full eight seconds. Dominant as a regional team, Meagher helped lead Sacred Heart to the women's state title that year, by a large margin.
"When she was a teenager, Mary showed no weaknesses," reflected her early Lakeside Coach Dennis Pursley. "Every athlete I've ever known had some form of weakness, be it in terms of motivation, technique or physical attributes, but Mary was the exception." Meagher was known for her buoyant butterfly position, riding high in the water, and for her very strong whip or dolphin kick.
1980 Olympics
Prior to the 1980 trials, Meagher, as a High School Sophomore, moved to Cincinnati to train with her former Lakeside Coach Dennis Pursley at the Cincinnati Marlins.
Qualifying at the U.S. Olympic trials, Meagher was expected to compete for medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but lost the opportunity due to the American-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics, a result of human rights issues in Russia at the time. Recognized for her collegiate accomplishments at Berkeley, Meagher received the Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving twice, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year in 1984–85 and again in 1986–87. In 1987, she received the Honda Broderick Cup as the nation's top female collegiate athlete. She graduated from the University of California in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences. At the Olympics that year, Meagher's prior teammate at Louisville's Lakeside Swim Club, Tori Trees, placed fifth in the finals of the 200-meter backstroke.
1988 Seoul Olympics
Meagher trained for the 1988 Olympics for around seven months with her prior coach Bill Peak at the Old Dominion Swim Club in Virginia Beach Virgina, and credited Peak with helping her qualify for the Olympic team. After becoming only the third American woman to qualify for three Olympics, she competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and won a bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:10.80. German swimmers Kathleen Norde took the gold and Birte Weigang won the silver.
Meagher won a silver medal swimming the butterfly leg of the medley. By the time she left competitive swimming, Meagher had won 24 U.S. national swimming titles. Meagher retired from swimming after the 1988 Olympics. A street is named in Meagher's honor in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.