Mary T. Meagher

Mary Terstegge Meagher ( born October 27, 1964 in Louisville ) is a former American swimmer.

Mary T. Meagher is one of the best butterfly swimmers in swimming history. At the age of only 14 years, it has 1979 on their first world records. The prodigy from Kentucky was thus considered the favorite for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, the Olympic boycott of the United States, however, prevented the first Olympic medals. This brought them in after the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Think she won the 100 m and 200 m butterfly and secured with the U.S. 4 × 100 m medley relay their third gold medal. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul she could still win a bronze in the 200m butterfly.

Remembering the great world records remain in the early 1980s. On 13 August 1981, she presented over 200 m butterfly with 2:05,96 minutes a world record, which was compared with the long jump world record of Bob Beamon and seemed to last forever. It was only on 17 May 2000, the Australian Susie O'Neill could with 2:05,81 minutes break this record. In the eternal rankings over this distance, however, it is still very high up. According to O'Neill only the current world record holder Jessicah Schipper and Otylia Jędrzejczak were faster.

In 1993, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the international swimming sport. Mary T. Meagher married after her career, the speed skaters Mike Plant and now lives in Peachtree City, Georgia. One of her sisters is the politician Anne Northup.