Kaylee McKeown

Kaylee Rochelle McKeown OAM (born 12 July 2001) is an Australian swimmer and triple Olympic gold medalist. She is the world record holder in the long course 50 metre backstroke, 100 metre backstroke and both the long course and short course 200 metre backstroke.[4][5] She won gold in both the 100 metre and 200 metre backstroke, as well as the 4×100 metre medley relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics staged in Tokyo in 2021.[6] In 2023, she was named as the "Best Female Swimmer of the Year" by World Aquatics, after sweeping gold in all three events of backstroke (50m, 100m, and 200m) at all three World Cup legs, held in Berlin, Athens and Budapest in October, 2023.[7]

Kaylee McKeown
OAM
Training at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires on 10 October 2018
Personal information
Full nameKaylee Rochelle McKeown
NationalityAustralian
Born (2001-07-12) 12 July 2001
Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia[1]
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke, individual medley
ClubGriffith University[2]
CoachMichael Bohl[3]
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  AUS
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 0 1
World Championships (LC) 4 8 0
World Championships (SC) 3 1 1
Commonwealth Games 4 1 1
Total 14 10 3
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2020 Tokyo100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2020 Tokyo200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2020 Tokyo4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2020 Tokyo4×100 m mixed medley
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place2022 Budapest200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2023 Fukuoka50 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2023 Fukuoka100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2023 Fukuoka200 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2017 Budapest4×100 m mixed medley
Silver medal – second place2019 Gwangju200 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2019 Gwangju4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place2022 Budapest200 m medley
Silver medal – second place2022 Budapest4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place2022 Budapest4×100 m mixed medley
Silver medal – second place2023 Fukuoka4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place2023 Fukuoka4×100 m mixed medley
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place2022 Melbourne100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2022 Melbourne200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2022 Melbourne4×50 m medley
Silver medal – second place2022 Melbourne4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2022 Melbourne200 m medley
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2022 Birmingham100 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2022 Birmingham200 m backstroke
Gold medal – first place2022 Birmingham4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place2022 Birmingham4×100 m mixed medley
Silver medal – second place2022 Birmingham200 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2022 Birmingham50 m backstroke
Summer Youth Olympics
Gold medal – first place2018 Buenos Aires50 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2018 Buenos Aires100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place2018 Buenos Aires4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place2018 Buenos Aires200 m backstroke
Junior Pan Pacific Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 Maui200 m backstroke
Bronze medal – third place2016 Maui100 m backstroke

Background

Kaylee McKeown was just 15 years old when she joined her older sister Taylor on the Australian Dolphins swim team. She was one of the youngest members.[8] She currently trains with the Griffith University swim group with Michael Bohl as her coach.[2][3]

Career

When she was 15 years old, McKeown competed at the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, held in August in Maui, Hawaii, United States, winning the gold medal in the 200 metre backstroke with a time of 2:10.01 and the bronze medal in the 100 metre backstroke with a time of 1:01.01.[9]

The following year, McKeown competed in the women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.[10][11] As a 16-year-old the next year, she was the youngest woman on the Swimming Australia roster for the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.[12]

Leading up to the 2020 Summer Olympics, McKeown was the fastest swimmer in the 200 metre individual medley but withdrew from the event to concentrate on the backstroke.[13] She won the 100 metre backstroke at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics setting a new Olympic record of 57.47 seconds.[14]

2022 World Short Course Championships

Following her performances at the 2022 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships, held in Sydney in August, McKeown was named to the roster for the 2022 World Short Course Championships.[2] On the first day of competition, she ranked twelfth in the preliminaries of the 100 metre backstroke, qualifying for the semifinals with her time of 57.11 seconds.[15] Later in the morning, she qualified for the final of the 200 metre individual medley with an overall rank of fourth in the preliminaries with a time of 2:06.07.[16] In the evening session, she started off with a bronze medal-win in the 200 metre individual medley in an Oceanian, Commonwealth, and Australian record time of 2:03.57 before qualifying for the final of the 100 metre backstroke approximately 20 minutes later with a time of 56.35 seconds that ranked her sixth across both semifinal heats.[17][18][19]

On day two, McKeown won the gold medal in the 100 metre backstroke with a personal best time of 55.49 seconds.[20][21] The morning of day three, she ranked tenth in the preliminaries of the 50 metre backstroke with a time of 26.24 seconds and advanced to the semifinals.[22] In the evening semifinals, she placed ninth with a time of 26.09 seconds.[23] Two days later, she swam the backstroke portion of the 4×50 metre medley relay in the preliminaries in a time of 26.42 seconds, helping qualify the relay to the final ranking first in an Oceanian and Australian record time of 1:44.78.[24] When the finals relay placed first in a time of 1:42.35, she won a gold medal for her efforts in the preliminaries.[25]

Day six of six, McKeown started in the morning in the preliminaries of the 200 metre backstroke, where she ranked second in 2:02.32 and advanced to the final.[26] In the final, she was the only one to finish in a time faster than 2:00.00, winning the gold medal with a 1:59.26 that was 0.32 seconds slower than her world record mark from 2020.[27] She concluded the session with a silver medal in the 4×100 metre medley relay, leading-off with a 55.74 for the backstroke portion to help finish in an Oceanian, Commonwealth, and Australian record time of 3:44.92.[28]

Results in major championships
Meet 50 back 100 back 200 back 200 medley 400 medley 4×50 medley 4×100 medley 4×100 mixed medley
PACJ 2016—3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)17th——
WC 20174th16th—2nd place, silver medalist(s)
CG 20184th4th9th——
PAC 2018—5th5th—
YOG 20181st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)7th—2nd place, silver medalist(s)9th
WC 20194th5th2nd place, silver medalist(s)—2nd place, silver medalist(s)
OG 2020—1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)—1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
WC 20225thDNS1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)—2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
CG 20223rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)—1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
SCW 20229th1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)[a]2nd place, silver medalist(s)—
WC 20231st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)DQ—2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
a McKeown swam only in the preliminary heats.

Career best times

Long course metres (50 m pool)
As of 21 October 2023
Event Time Meet Location Date Notes
50 m freestyle 26.59 Queensland Championships Brisbane 14 December 2020
NSW Open Championships Sydney 18 March 2021
100 m freestyle 54.29 NSW Open Championships Sydney 18 March 2021
200 m freestyle 1:56.88 2023 Australian Championships Gold Coast 20 April 2023
400 m freestyle 4:10.67 Swimming Queensland Prep Meet Brisbane 14 November 2020
50 m backstroke 26.86 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Budapest 20 October 2023 WR, OC, NR
100 m backstroke 57.33 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Budapest 21 October 2023 WR, OC, NR
200 m backstroke 2:03.14 2023 NSW State Open Championships Sydney 10 March 2023 WR, OC, NR
50 m breaststroke 32.18 Queensland Championships Brisbane 14 December 2020
100 m breaststroke 1:06.86 Victorian Open Championships Melbourne 17 February 2023
200 m breaststroke 2:24.18 2023 Australian Championships Gold Coast 19 April 2023
50 m butterfly 27.28 Swimming Queensland Prep Meet Brisbane 15 November 2020
100 m butterfly 1:00.13 NSW Open Championships Sydney 19 March 2021
200 m individual medley 2:07.18 2023 Sydney Open Gold Coast 12 May 2023
400 m individual medley 4:31.74 2022 Australian Championships Adelaide 19 May 2022

Short course metres (25 m pool)
As of 14 December 2022
Event Time Meet Location Date Notes
200 m freestyle 1:55.84 Australian Championships (25m) Melbourne 27 October 2018
50 m backstroke 26.00 Australian Virtual Championships (25m) Brisbane 27 November 2020
100 m backstroke 55.49 2022 World Short Course Championships Melbourne 14 December 2022
200 m backstroke 1:58.94 Australian Virtual Championships (25m) Brisbane 28 November 2020 WR, OC, CR, NR
100 m breaststroke 1:08.06 Australian Championships (25m) Melbourne 25 October 2018
50 m butterfly 27.46 Australian Virtual Championships (25m) Brisbane 27 November 2020
100 m individual medley 59.14 Australian Virtual Championships (25m) Brisbane 26 November 2020
200 m individual medley 2:03.57 2022 World Short Course Championships Melbourne 13 December 2022 OC, CR, NR
Legend: WR – World record; OC – Oceanian record; CR – Commonwealth record; NR – Australian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

World records

Long course metres
No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Ref
1 100 m backstroke 57.45 2021 Australian Swimming Trials Adelaide, Australia 13 June 2021 Former [29]
2 200 m backstroke 2:03.14 2023 NSW State Open Championships Sydney, Australia 10 March 2023 Current [30]
3 50 m backstroke 26.86 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Budapest, Hungary 20 October 2023 Current [31]
4 100 m backstroke 57.33 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Budapest, Hungary 21 October 2023 Current [32]

Short course metres
No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Ref
1 200 m backstroke 1:58.94 Australian Swimming Championships (25m) Brisbane, Australia 28 November 2020 Current [33]

Olympic records

Long course metres
No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Notes Ref
1 100 m backstroke 57.88 h 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 25 July 2021 Former [34]
2 100 m backstroke (2) 57.47 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 27 July 2021 Current [34]
3 4x100 m medley relay[a] 3:51.60 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 1 August 2021 Current OC, NR [34]
Legend: WR – World record; OC – Oceanian record; NR – Australian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

a split 58.01 for backstroke leg; with Chelsea Hodges (breaststroke), Emma McKeon (butterfly), Cate Campbell (freestyle)

Awards and honours

Personal life

In August 2020, McKeown's father, Sholto, died after a two-year battle with brain cancer.[6] She has a tattoo on her foot in his memory that says, "I'll always be with you".[36]

McKeown has been dating fellow Australian national team member and 2020 Olympian Brendon Smith since February 2022.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Kaylee McKeown". Swimming Australia. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. "Dolphins Named For Home World Short Course Championships". Swimming Australia. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  3. Race, Retta (17 February 2022). "Now Under Michael Bohl, Kaylee McKeown Set To Race At Vic Open". SwimSwam. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  4. Lepesant, Anne (13 June 2021). "Kaylee McKeown drops 57.45 to break Regan Smith's World Record in the 100 Back". Swimswam.com. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  5. Hanson, Ian (27 November 2020). "Kaylee McKeown Sets World Short Course Record of 1:58.94 In 200m Backstroke". Swimming World. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  6. "Kaylee McKeown secures another gold for Australia as Olympic swimming tally rises". The Guardian. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. "Qin, McKeown named best swimmers of year by World Aquatics". The Straits Times. 24 October 2023. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  8. "Kaylee McKeown". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  9. Hy-Tek (27 August 2016). "Meet Results: 2016 Jr Pan Pacific Swimming Championships". swmeets.com. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  10. "Heats results". FINA. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  11. "2017 World Aquatics Championships > Search via Athletes". Budapest 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  12. Brien, Taylor (4 July 2018). "Australia Announces 33 Swimmer Roster for 2018 Pan Pacific Championships". Swimming World. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  13. Savage, Nic (22 July 2021). "Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown withdraws from 200m individual medley". News.com.au.
  14. "Swimming - Final Results". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  15. FINA (13 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 100m Backstroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  16. FINA (13 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 200m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  17. FINA (13 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 200m Individual Medley Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  18. FINA (13 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 100m Backstroke Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  19. Keith, Braden (13 December 2022). "Kaylee McKeown Shaves a Tenth Off Her Australian Record in the 200 IM". SwimSwam. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  20. FINA (14 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 100m Backstroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  21. Pérez, Marta (14 December 2022). "McKeown y Pallister sellan el doblete australiano en Melbourne" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  22. FINA (15 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 50m Backstroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  23. FINA (15 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 50m Backstroke Semifinals Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  24. FINA (17 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 4x50m Medley Relay Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  25. FINA (17 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 4x50m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  26. FINA (18 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 200m Backstroke Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  27. FINA (18 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 200m Backstroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  28. FINA (18 December 2022). "16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne (AUS): Women's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  29. "Women's 100m Backstroke Final Results". swimming.org.au. 13 June 2021. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  30. Race, Retta (10 March 2023). "Kaylee McKeown crushes 2:03.14 200 backstroke world record". SwimSwam. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  31. Sutherland, James (20 October 2023). "Kaylee McKeown Blasts New World Record In Women's 50 Backstroke – 26.86". SwimSwam. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  32. Overend, Riley (21 October 2023). "Kaylee McKeown Breaks 2nd World Record in 24 Hours With 57.33 100 Back in Budapest". SwimSwam. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  33. "Women's 200m Backstroke SC Results". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 November 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  34. Omega Timing; Atos (1 August 2021). "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: Swimming Results Book" Archived 7 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  35. "Australia Day Honours List" (PDF). The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  36. "Tragic detail in Australian star Kaylee McKeown's golden swim". NewsComAu. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
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