Pan American Games, Day 2: Maggie Mac Neil, Mary-Sophie Harvey Double Up on Gold for Canada

Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada competes in the 200m Individual Medley Women Heats during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023. Mary-Sophie Harvey placed 3rd.

Mary-Sophie Harvey; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Pan American Games, Day 2: Maggie Mac Neil, Mary-Sophie Harvey Double Up on Gold for Canada

The Canadian women started the second day of the Pan American Games the way they ended the first: With a long climb to the top of the podium.

Mary-Sophie Harvey started the second of five finals sessions at Centro Aquatico in Santiago, Chile, by winning a close race in the 200 freestyle. Maggie Mac Neil, the reigning Olympic champion in the 100 butterfly, took home the gold and the Pan Am Games record in that event. Both women were part of the Canadian 400 freestyle relay that won gold to cap Day 1.

All the action from Sunday’s session in Santiago:

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Mary-Sophie Harvey had the legs on the final 50 to roar home to the win by just .04 seconds. She clocked in at 1:58.08.

She was seven tenths down at the 150-meter mark and in fourth place. But she made up that gap on leader Maria da Silva Costa of Brazil, who earned silver in 1:58.12. Camille Spink earned a bronze medal for the United States in 1:58.61, just barely holding off a charge from Brazil’s Stephanie Balduccini by .06 seconds. Kayla Wilson of the U.S. was fifth.

It’s Harvey’s first individual gold medal at a major senior international event. The 21-year-old won silver in the 200 fly and bronze in the 400 IM at the 2019 Pan Am Games.

Men’s 200 Freestyle

After earning 10 medals on the opening day of competition, Coby Carrozza helped the U.S. add on. He controlled the race the whole way, leading wire to wire to win in 1:47.37. He held Jorge Iga at bay, the Mexican winning silver in 1:47.56. Murilo Sartori grabbed bronze in 1:37.95 with American Zane Grothe fourth in 1:48.00. Just .85 seconds separated the top five finishers.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

Going in, the 100 fly was Maggie Mac Neil’s race to lose. MacNeil doesn’t often lose those.

She took control from the gun, leading by eight-tenths at the turn for home. She clocked in at 56.94, nine tenths ahead of the field. It downs the Pan Am Games record set in 2015 by Kelsi Worrell at 57.24.

Mac Neil now holds the Olympic, the World Short-Course, the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Am Games titles. The only thing between here and the long-course Worlds title in the summer was Zhang Yufei and .33 seconds.

The Americans did well to fill the podium behind the favorite. Kelly Pash was second in 57.85. Olivia Bray added bronze in 58.36. She was nearly a second up on Colombia’s Valentina Becerra for the last medal.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

Luke Miller went out fast and hung on hard for a big victory, the NC State senior going 51.98 to claim gold. He’s joined on the podium by countryman and college teammate Arsenio Bustos, who finished third in 52.60. Bustos was seventh at the wall but rallied well.

That slow start cost him silver, though. In between the Americans was arguably the favorite, Brazil’s Vini Lanza. He secured silver in 52.52. Lanza was fifth at the midpoint with Bustos seventh, but Bustos was .52 seconds back. He made up all but the final .08 on the way home.

Canada’s Finlay Knox finished fourth.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Kennedy Noble delivered arguably the most dominant performance of the meet so far, positively routing the field in the 200 backstroke. Her time of 2:08.03 won by 4.76 seconds, over countrywoman Reilly Tiltmann. It also chipped two tenths off the meet record set in 2015 by Hillary Caldwell.

Noble was 1.47 seconds up on Tiltmann and 1.76 ahead of the rest of the field by the 50-meter mark, at which point it was all but over. And it only got worse from there for the chasers.

Alexia Tavares Assuncao gleaned another medal for Brazil in third in 2:13.31. She was third at every wall, a second clear of Puerto Rico’s Kristen Romano.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

American men’s backstroke rolls on, same as it ever was. The final became a duel between the two Americans. Jack Aikins took the top honors in 1:56.58, a Pan Am Games record. He seized control over teammate Ian Grum on the third 50 in undercutting the meet record set in 2015 by Sean Lehane at 1:57.11.

Grum was very nearly under that mark in getting silver in 1:57.19. He was more than 2.5 seconds clear of the chasers, with Canada’s Hugh McNeill third in 1:59.96. Leonardo de Deus was a surprising non-factor for medals, finishing seventh.

Mixed 400 Freestyle Relay

Brazil gets the last medal of the day, and it’s now three relays without a gold for the United States.

Brazil’s foursome of Gui Caribe, Marcelo Chierighini, Ana Vieira and Stephanie Balduccini won a back-and-forth race in 3:23.78. That clubs a second off the meet record from the American time at the 2019 Pan Am Games. It’s Brazil’s second relay win, to go with the men’s 400 free relay.

The Brazilian men led the American men by .02 seconds at the midway point. Catie DeLoof moved the U.S. into the lead with a split of 54.01 to give them a .47-second edge. But Balduccini outsplit Amy Fulmer coming home by nine tenths for Brazil to get the win.

The U.S., with Brooks Curry and Johnny Kulow up front, went 3:42.21, well under the 2019 Pan Am record. Canada (Finlay Knox, Javier Acevedo, Maggie MacNeil, Mary-Sophie Harvey) were third in 3:25.23, more than three seconds clear of Mexico.

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