Brittany MacLean, Canada's top female distance swimmer and multiple national record holder, announced her retirement from the sport on Monday.
MacLean, 22, began her Olympic career at the 2012 Summer Games as she broke her own Canadian record in the 400-metre freestyle event en route to a seventh-place finish. She also anchored the women's 4x200 freestyle relay team to a fourth-place showing.
"I enjoyed what I was doing, I liked the idea of the grind again and enjoyed the sport more than I ever had," said MacLean, who knew in the back of her mind 2016 might be her last year. "I was appreciating the little things."
The Toronto native had high hopes for the Rio Olympics last August, especially after setting Canadian records in the 200 and 400 freestyle, while also qualifying for the 800 event.
MacLean was part of the historic Canadian team that captured Olympic bronze in the 4x200 freestyle event in Rio, its first-ever medal in that competition.
However, her individual events were affected by illness. MacLean lowered her 400 record but admitted to feeling off in the final, where she finished fifth.
"For the 400 final I had no idea what was wrong," she said. "I felt super easy and controlled in the [heat] and ended up going a best time. I thought I would go at least two seconds faster at night."
The next day it became obvious she was sick. MacLean was transferred to a private hotel room after losing her voice. This also allowed her to get extra rest and avoid spreading her illness to athletes.
Still, MacLean only managed 10th-place finishes in the 200 and 800.
"By the time the 800 came I had no more energy," said MacLean. "I hadn't been able to fuel my body properly, I was on medication and did not get enough sleep.
"It was incredible to be a member of that relay team and leave Rio as an Olympic medallist, but I was not satisfied with my performances," she says. "I was in better shape than I ever thought I could be and was just super confident. It's hard to accept that's the way I was going to go out."
New generation of Canadian swimmers
MacLean leaves the swimming program in great hands. The 4x200 relay really began to build confidence in 2014 with MacLean as the star of Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships medals.
"It was cool to be a part of the Ryan Cochrane/Julia Wilkinson/Brent Hayden era, and now it's the world of Penny [Oleksiak], Taylor [Ruck] and almost every single woman on the team was in finals," said MacLean.
Swimming Canada High Performance Director John Atkinson called MacLean "one of the toughest swimmers I have had the pleasure to work with.
"How she managed herself through the tough times of dealing with injuries in 2013 and 2015, and then got herself back to become an Olympic medallist is an absolute credit to Brittany, her support staff and her coaches," Atkinson says. "She has been a great competitor for Swimming Canada and to finish her career with an Olympic medal in Rio was a great achievement."
Although she didn't reach her goal of winning an individual Olympic medal, MacLean remains proud of her accomplishments in the pool.
"Making the Olympic final in London [7th, 400-m free] was one of them, obviously medalling in Rio," she said. "The fact I hold the 200, 400, 800, and 1,500 free Canadian records, getting all four of those is something that's a really big honour for me. And just getting to compete for six years on the national team, at multiple worlds, to have medalled at Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs."
Canadian Brittany MacLean retires from swimming
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