Canadian star swimmer Maggie Mac Neil wins fourth gold at Pan Am Games

Canada's Maggie Mac Neil prepares to enter the water in the women's 50m freestyle swim event at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Source: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)

Star swimmer and London native Maggie Mac Neil, picked up her fourth gold medal at the Pan Am Games as Canada continued its medal haul in the pool Tuesday.

Mac Neil, from London, Ont., finished her Games with gold in the women's 50-metre freestyle after finishing tied with American Gabi Albiero in 24.84 seconds.

“I’m happy that I could tie for the win. It’s still new swimming freestyle for me internationally,” Mac Neil said. “The good thing is this is obviously one of my weaker events — I really miss having that extra wall. So I’m really happy with that.”

The win gave Mac Neil six medals (four gold, one silver, one bronze) from seven events.

The four golds tie the record for most by a Canadian swimmer at Pan Am Games set by Jessica Deglau in 1999, and the six overall medals tie the all-time single-Games high held by four other swimmers (Deglau, 1999; Marianne Limpert andJoanne Malar, 1995; Ralph Hutton 1967).

Mac Neil's shining effort helped Team Canada boost its four-day medal count to 58 — 20 golds, 20 silvers and 18 bronze.