McKeown’s sights on Olympic feat that’s never been achieved after horror year
It’s been a difficult year for superstar Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown, but despite recently losing a world record amid a difficult health battle, the backstroke champion isn’t pondering her retirement two years out from the LA Olympics.
A number of obstacles have stood in McKeown’s path over the past eight months, from breaking her wrist in January to falling ill with glandular fever weeks out from the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Kaylee McKeown has signed a three-year partnership with Under Armour. Under Armour
McKeown, 25, has learned she is not the best spectator when she’s unable to train and compete - and she hopes watching a major competition from afar doesn’t become a recurring theme for the remainder of her career.
But setbacks in her recovery will force the five-time Olympic gold medallist to do just that at least once more at December’s World Short Course Championships in Beijing, with that meet to take place too soon in her recovery timeline.
McKeown is currently limited to three sessions per week - just one third of her usual nine, with recovery starting to feel like she is “taking two steps forward then one step back”.
That frustration hasn’t robbed her of her hunger to compete and achieve more, but she has no plans to rush her return for the sake of adding to her already imposing medal tally.
“I’ve got to be patient,” she told nine.com.au at Under Armour’s COMMIT launch in Sydney on Wednesday.
“I definitely had a lot of FOMO not being at the facilities, racing and competing [at the Commonwealth Games or the Pan Pacific Championships].
“I’m not in a position to even be close to being able to put my best foot forward.
“I don’t want to go and half-ass ever, that’s just not who I am. I’d rather see someone young and upcoming be able to go out, try new things and learn.
“Hopefully, after all this, I’ll really master the art of being patient.”
While out of the pool, McKeown has witnessed the rise of Italy’s Sara Curtis, who shattered her 50m backstroke world record at the European Championships.
Curtis, 19, lowered the record twice while competing at the event in Paris, clocking a time of 26.56 in the final. McKeown’s record was set in 2023 with a time of 26.86.
Italy’s Sara Curtis reacts after breaking Kaylee McKeown’s 50m backstroke world record. AP Photo/Emma Da Silva
Curtis’ achievements reminded McKeown of the breakout performance of her most fierce rival, American Regan Smith, who in 2019 shattered the 200m backstroke world record at age 17.
Smith holds the 100m backstroke world record in both short and long course, while McKeown is still the undisputed queen of the 200m event. Curtis is the latest serious backstroke contender to arrive on the world stage, with her sizzling pace making her the swimmer to beat in the 50m distance.
“That’s just sport,” McKeown said when asked about the recent loss of a world record.
“You’re never going to be the top dog for your whole career. It’s inevitable, and I’ve just got to be okay with that.”
Despite her incredible success, McKeown is a realist.
She knows that there will be a whole host of challengers in LA, desperate for the opportunity to take down the Aussie, who has been the world’s top women’s backstroker throughout the 2020s.
In previous Olympic Games, she and her rivals had only two individual events in which to fight for medals. The 50m distance will be up for grabs for the first time in LA, giving McKeown another opportunity to make Olympic history.
Australian swimming superstar Kaylee McKeown. Sportsfile via Getty Images
“Heading into LA, I have no doubt that there is going to be more people (like Curtis) appearing out of nowhere,” she said.
“I would love to go and do a three-peat (winning the 50, 100 and 200) but at the end of the day, if it doesn’t happen, I don’t have control over that.
“I would be a little bit sour (if that didn’t happen) only because it is something that I set out to do and wasn’t able to achieve.
“My goal is to go to the Olympics and win three gold medals, but my second goal is just to get there and have my family watch me swim potentially for the last time.”
A home Olympics in 2032 is not completely off the cards for McKeown just yet, although she has begun to think about starting a life away from the sport.
If the time to do that unexpectedly came earlier than the 2028 Olympic Games, she says she would be OK with saying goodbye to the sport.
“As a little girl I never thought that I would be an Olympian, let alone an Olympic medallist ... so that’s something I will always hold near to my heart,” she said.
“I will never be a failure because I’ve reached more than I’ve thought was possible.
“If I got told I could never swim again right now - it’s not something that anyone ever wants to hear - but I’d be OK with that.
“I’d be upset because I know I’m capable of doing more, but I also never want to take for granted what I have done.”