The Legend of Madame Butterfly, Mary T. Meagher

Mary T. Meagher (now Plant) is a 3x Olympian (1980/1984/1988), 3x Olympic gold medalist (1984), and Bronze medalist (1988) for the United States of America. Madame Butterfly, as she was affectionately nicknamed, took the 100 (57.9) and 200 Butterfly (2.05.9) events to new heights. Mary's World Records stood for 18 & 19 years, respectively! Her 200 Fly time, 40 years later, would have placed 4th at the Olympics in Tokyo.

Her career wasn't all flowers and frosting, though. After setting those World Records, she spent the next 7 years trying to better them. She missed out on competing in the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the American boycott. And in 1984, didn't get to compete against the best because the Soviets boycotted back.

Mary swam for the likes of Dennis Pursley, Mark Schubert, Karen Moe, and Bill Peak. She is married to Mike Plant, Olympic speedskater, Vice President of the Atlanta Braves, and 10-term USOC Board Member.

Enjoy!