TORONTO -- Just like the rest of us, Canadian Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Maggie Mac Neil has been laughing at the memes showing her squinting to see how she placed in the 100-metre butterfly final.

鈥淎s long as I can see the wall, I鈥檓 good as far as swimming goes,鈥� the 19-year-old told 麻豆影视 Channel in a joint interview with her Olympic relay teammate Sydney Pickrem.

Mac Neil, who won Canada鈥檚 first gold medal of the Tokyo Games last week, had a tough time seeing the scoreboard at the time, because she鈥檚 near-sighted but doesn鈥檛 wear contacts or prescription goggles when swimming.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 into the whole contacts thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e just never tried to try them out and, as a swimmer, I feel like that鈥檚 a pretty good decision to make.鈥�

Races often end in a blur for Mac Neil, and photos of her squinting to see where she placed quickly spread online shortly after her big win, with millions of people online sharing the image.

鈥淭hat meme has been sent to me by at least 50 of my friends,鈥� Mac Neil laughed, adding that she often had to tell them she鈥檇 already seen the photos.

Pickrem, who was part of the bronze-medal-winning Canadian 4x100-metre medley relay team on Sunday, chuckled alongside Mac Neil.

Pickrem performed the breaststroke part of the race, which isn鈥檛 her specialty. She said she was only focused on making her teammates proud: 鈥淚 just wanted to be a team player. And this was such a cool experience for me in swimming and it鈥檚 given me a whole new perspective at these Olympic Games.鈥�

She has high hopes for both the Canadian women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 swimming team in the near future and said in 鈥�2024, we鈥檙e definitely someone to look out for.鈥�

The pair also discussed their mental health challenges -- a conversation U.S. gymnast Simone Biles and Japanese tennis pro Naomi Osaka have brought into the forefront this year.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of reasons I didn鈥檛 swim in the 400 IM [individual medley] and that鈥檚 definitely a big factor,鈥� Pickrem said, referring to her mental health. 鈥淚 made the best decision for me.鈥�

Mac Neil said the pandemic, the delays to the start of the Games, and the rejigging of her training regimen all affected her.

鈥淚 think we learned to live in the moment, and I think that was a very important takeaway from the last year and a half,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 definitely a struggle to stay motivated and keep training."