One of the greatest female swimmers of all-time, known during her career as “Mary T” surprised a lot of people when she got back in the pool last October and started swimming again. What was not a surprise was when she decided to compete, and world records started dropping.
Mary T. Meagher, of Louisville now, Mary Plant, of Atlanta, is probably best remembered for her performances at Brown Deer, Wisconsin, at the 1981 U.S. Swimming National Championships, where she set world records in both the 100 and 200 meter butterfly. The times for both records were considered astonishing, especially the record of 57.93 seconds that Meagher set in the 100 meters, a drop of over a second. Both times would stand as the world records for nearly two decades. Some have argued that Meagher’s records in the butterfly were among the most impressive records ever set in sport, ranking among such other noteworthy records as Bob Beamon‘s long jump world record in 1968. These two swims led Meagher to being named a two-time Female World Swimmer of the Year.
After her career ended, Meagher married speed skater, Mike Plant and they had two children, Maddie and Drew.
Fast forward 35 years. Mary is back in the pool, swimming, and really enjoying it! She has been one to always stay active and in good shape. “Its cut into a couple of other activities, I’ve enjoyed, so I’ll probably back off a little. I’ll get back into more golf, biking and pickleball. Always feel good after a hard practice though.”
Mary recently swam at the SPMS SW Zone LCM Championships in Mission Viejo, California, breaking Laura Val’s 14-year old World Record from 2011, in the 200-meter butterfly (60-64 women).
During her professional career, Plant won five Olympic medals, during two Olympic Games, 1984 and 1988. She held the World Record in the 100-meter fly from 1980 until 1999 and the 200 fly from 1979 until 2000, setting those records when she was 15 and 14, respectively.
At the beginning of this Summer, 2025, Mary’s daughter Maddie, gave birth to her first child, Kase, making Mary a grandmother.
Let’s hope we continue to see Mary in the pool!
Mary was inducted into ISHOF in 1993, read her bio here: https://ishof.org/honoree/honoree-mary-meagher/