Hayley McGregory (born January 13, 1986) is an English-born American competition swimmer. She is a former world-record holder in the 50 and 100-meter backstroke (long course), and is the first woman to break a world record held by Natalie Coughlin in the 100-meter backstroke.

Personal life

McGregory was born to

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parents in London, but her family relocated to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

when she was a young child. She became an American citizen in 2000. McGregory competed for the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

before transferring to

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. However, she became weary of competitive collegiate swimming and dropped out of college to turn professional. McGregory briefly trained at the

North Baltimore Aquatic Club The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1968, it continues to offer training for young swimmers. It is best known for developing a dozen Olympic swimmers, six of whom earned gold m ...

with coach Bob Bowman in early 2009. In 2011, she became the head coach at Circle C Swim Team in Austin, Texas.

Career

2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials

Hayley McGregory swam at both the 2000 and the 2004 Olympic Trials. She failed to make the team. In 2004, she finished third in both backstroke events and, therefore, did not qualify.

2008-2009

McGregory made sort of a comeback in 2008. She proved to be a huge threat to Natalie Coughlin, and broke Coughlin's world record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.15 in the heats at the Olympic Trials. However, Coughlin took the world record back in the next heat, with a time of 59.03. In the semifinals later that day, McGregory swam a faster time than Natalie and was the top qualifier going into the finals. However,

Margaret Hoelzer Margaret Josephine Hoelzer (born March 30, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoelzer competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Olympic Games. Biography While in Huntsv ...

beat her to second place, and she failed to make the team in the 100 meter backstroke, as well as the 200 meter backstroke later in the meet, finishing in third place in both races just like in 2004. At the 2009 USA National Championships, McGregory made the World Championship team in the 50 meter and 100 meter backstroke. The

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

was the first international meet of her career. In the 50 meter backstroke, she failed to make it past the semifinals. She finished in eleventh place with a time of 27.83, 0.03 seconds away from her American record. She did, however, make it to the finals of the 100 meter backstroke. However, she ended up getting sixth place in the finals, and the US women failed to advance past the prelims of the women's 4x100 medley relay, therefore ending her chances of winning a medal. McGregory swam at the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool and competed in the women's 100 m Backstroke (25m) and got last in the event with a time of 58.54, and there McGregory's professional career came to an end.

Personal bests

Long Course

References

External links

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USC athlete bio: Hayley McGregory

Arluck Promotions athlete bio: Hayley McGregory

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregory, Hayley 1986 births Living people American female swimmers American female backstroke swimmers Texas Longhorns women's swimmers USC Trojans women's swimmers World record setters in swimming Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade