Mary T. Meagher Plant units new Kentucky swimming report

Louisville’s “Madame Butterfly” continued her profession of breaking swimming data Aug. 2, practically 40 years after her final Olympics.

Mary Plant, previously often called Mary T. Meagher, broke a state and swim meet report for the quickest 200 lengthy course meter butterfly for girls within the 60-64 age group. The weekend meet marked the primary time Plant had competed at Lakeside Swim Club for the reason that Eighties.

Plant’s feat got here on the Lakeside Masters Invitational, an occasion that has been held yearly for practically half of the swim membership’s 102-year historical past. Plant, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, is in her second yr of competitors as a U.S. Masters swimmer, after many years away from the game. Former Olympians have competed in U.S. Masters Swimming, although the group is open to all adults at any stage of experience.

Finishing with an official 200 lengthy course meter butterfly time of two:40.53, Plant simply missed the world report she set within the 60-64 age group on Aug. 16, 2025, in Mission Viejo, California. The report time to beat was 2:39.31.

After the race, Plant instructed reporters she went into the morning optimistic concerning the likelihood to interrupt her personal world report.

“I think at this age, that’s what happens from one day to the next, you have no idea [how you’ll perform],” stated Plant, who’s 61. “Your body, just for whatever reason, performs [better] one day than the next.”

A day earlier than her Aug. 2 swim, Plant additionally broke the state and meet report within the 100 lengthy course meter butterfly for girls within the 60-64 age group, with a remaining time of 1:08.70. Plant additionally owns the occasion’s world report together with her 1:07.78 mark from June 2026.

Plant stated she stored her want to return to aggressive swimming quiet for about eight months. To put together for the Lakeside Masters Invitational, she swam 4 days per week for one hour, primarily within the butterfly stroke.

“I had gone to the Paris Olympics [in 2024] and I had watched the swimming and thought, ‘That is just so poetic, to see good swimmers do that,'” Plant stated. “So I guess that was half of my mind. I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll just reinvent myself as a Masters swimmer.'”

Even together with her Olympic profession behind her, Plant stated she was assured about getting again within the pool and doing one thing she has liked since she was a toddler.

“I have high expectations. I’m still a competitor,” she stated. “What I enjoy is going head-to-head with people.”

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Lakeside, nestled inside the tall cliffs of a former stone quarry, has attracted quite a few Olympians and Paralympians to Louisville’s Belknap neighborhood through the years.

“It’s not just a really unique facility, but just obviously one that I’m emotionally connected to,” Plant stated. “I didn’t realize they had a meet, so when I found out about this meet a year ago, I kind of thought it would be a good one to attend.”

Plant’s world data within the 100 and 200-meter butterfly from the 1984 Summer Olympics each stood for nearly 20 years. She gained gold within the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly and 4×100-meter medley relay in 1984, earlier than incomes silver within the 4×100-meter medley relay in 1988 and bronze within the 200-meter butterfly that very same yr.

For greater than 45 years, Plant has held the Ohio Valley report within the 200-meter butterfly for ladies aged 13-14.

Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@usatodayco.com or @leober2chee on X, previously often called Twitter