U-M Women’s Swimmer Maggie MacNeil Named Finalist for Honda Award

Sophomore Maggie MacNeil of the University of Michigan women’s swimming and diving team was named one of four finalists for the 2020 Honda Sport Award for Swimming and Diving, per an announcement from the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) on Thursday (April 2).

The swimming and diving finalists were selected by a panel of coaches and experts from the Collegiate Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). Given the unprecedented cancellation of championships, the panel relied mostly on cumulative rankings and scoring. The Honda Sport award winner for swimming and diving will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.

A native of London, Ontario, Canada, MacNeil was a six-time Big Ten champion this year, earning Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships at the conference meet in February. Individually, she won the 50-yard freestyle (21.30), 100-yard freestyle (46.57) and 100-yard butterfly (49.42), while also aiding Michigan to title wins as part of the 400-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay. At the Minnesota Invite in December, MacNeil tied the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 100-yard butterfly (49.26). Prior to the cancellation of the NCAA Championships due to COVID-19, MacNeil was ranked first in the NCAA in the 100-yard butterfly and fourth in the both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles.

Internationally, MacNeil won gold in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2019 FINA World Championships last July in Gwangju, South Korea, setting new Commonwealth, Americas and Canadian records. She also helped Canada win bronze medals on the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay.

The other finalists are Erika Brown (Tennessee), Beata Nelson (Wisconsin) and Abbey Weitzeil (California).