Kaylee McKeown is a competitive swimmer who represents Australia. She is a 3x Olympic champion from the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
2017 Australian National Swimming Championships
McKeown stunned everyone to finish second to Emily Seebohm in the 200m backstroke to earn a spot on the World Championship team alongside sister Taylor McKeown. Surging to the wall on the final 50m, McKeown posted a 2:08.98 to finish under the World Championship qualifying time standard guaranteeing her spot on the team.
2017 World Championships
McKeown fourth in the 200m backstroke, just behind bronze medalist, Kathleen Baker of the US. McKeon’s time of 2:06.76 set a new World Junior Record.
2019 World Championships
McKeown came back at the 2019 world champs to win her first worlds medal, touching for 2nd in the 200 back in a time of 2:06.26.
Late 2020 Queensland Meets
After much of the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Mckeown finally got the chance to get back into the pool and race, which she took full advantage of.
Her first eye-opening meet was the 2020 Queensland Medal Shots meet, where she recorded a 2:04.49, making her the #3 performer in the event all-time behind world record holder Regan Smith and Missy Franklin.
Next was the Queensland Virtual Championships, which were short course. McKeown threw down a slew of PBs, including a world record in the 200 back (1:58.94), a 200 IM that made her the 2nd fastest performer ever (2:03.68), and a best in the 100 back as well (55.68).
She capped the 2020 year at the Queensland Championships (LCM), where she swam the 2nd fastest 100 back ever (57.93), a 4:32.73 in the 400 IM making her the 2nd fastest Aussie ever, an All-Comers record of 2:08.23 in the 200 IM, and a solid 2:05.16 in the 200 back. She also went PBs in the 100 free and 100 breast at this meet.
2020 Swammy Awards
For her stellar performances in Queensland in both scm and lcm, Kaylee earned the 2020 Swammys for Oceania Female Swimmer of the Year and Female Swimmer of the Year.
2021 Australian Olympic Trials
Swimming in the final of the women’s 100 backstroke at the 2021 Australian Olympic Trials, 19-year-old Kaylee McKeown broke the World Record of 57.57 set by Regan Smith at 2019 World Championships in Gwangju. McKeown cracked a 57.45 to take .12 off Smith’s mark. McKeown was out in 28.10 and back in 29.35, beating her previous PB of 57.63 from a month ago in Sydney.
2020 Olympic Games
McKeown started her first Olympics by backing up her world record in the 100 back. She broke the Olympic record out of prelims (57.88) then moved through semis as the 3rd seed into the final. In the final heat, McKeown touched first at 57.47, getting the Olympic record back and notching the 2nd fastest swim ever in the event.
McKeown was back in the 200 backstroke, moving through prelims and semis and swimming a strong race in the final, using her back half speed to pass the field in the last 100 to touch 1st at 2:04.68, making it a clean sweep for Kaylee in the Olympic backstrokes. Later in the session, McKeown anchored Australia’s mixed medley relay, helping the team touch for 3rd and earning a bronze.
McKeown finished her Olympic program with the medley relay, anchoring in 58.01 to help Australia secure gold, earning McKeown her 4th medal of the Games.
2022 World Championships
On day 1 in Budapest, McKeown had a routine schedule, swimming prelims/semis of the 200 IM and qualifying for the fina. On day 2, she turned many more heads when she scratched the 100 back prelims, with Australia head coach Rohan Taylor later saying that she would swim the 100 back at the Commonwealth Games later in the summer and she was focusing on the 200 IM in Budapest. The decision seemed to pay off for McKeown as she earned silver in the 200 IM, clocking a 2:08.57 for 2nd behind American Alex Walsh.
McKeown was back mixed 400 medley relay, where she led off Australia in 58.66 en route to a 2nd place finish, earning silver. In the 200 back final on day 7, Mckeown used a burst in the final 15 meters to pass USA’s Phoebe Bacon to the wall, winning her first world title in 2:05.08.
2022 Commonwealth Games (Birmingham, England)
After scratching out of the 400 IM, McKeown took on the 100 back first. Cruising through prelims and semifinals, she broke Kylie Masse’s 2018 Commonwealth Games record time of 58.63 with a 58.60 to take the gold. Another of Masse’s records fell in the 200 back when McKeown swam a 2:05.60 to bag her second gold. She finished a tough 200 back/200 IM double with a silver in the 200 IM in 2:09.52 behind Summer McIntosh’s World Junior Record.
Similarly to the 100 back, McKeown cruised through the prelims of the 50 back with a relatively slow swim for her. In the semifinals, Masse cracked the Games Records with a 27.47 while McKeown swam a still impressive 27.75 to qualify third for the finals. In the same session, She led off the Australian 4×100 mixed medley relay team in 59.01 to capture another gold and gain another Games Record.
McKeown maintained seed in the finals of the 50 back, netting a bronze in 27.58 behind another Games Record-breaking swim for Masse. McKeown (58.79) got the better of Masse (59.01) on the lead-off leg in her final event, the 4×100 women’s medley relay. The remaining Australians held off the Canadians and McKeown netted her 4th gold and 6th medal of the meet.
2022 Duel in the Pool (Sydney, Australia)
McKeown roared to victory in the 100 back, swimming a 58.73, giving Australia some much-needed points. On the third and final night, McKeown won the final round of the 50 backstroke skins bringing Australia to just 2 points off America. McKeown capped off the meet with the women’s 200 mystery IM where she drew free-fly-back-breast. The lead she built with her fast start proved insurmountable as she got to the finish first.
2022 Australian Short Course Championships (Sydney, Australia)
Shortly following Duel in the Pool, McKeown took to the water again at the 2022 Australian Short Course Championships, the qualifier for Australia’s SC Worlds team. There she faced off against Beata Nelson, who also was at Duel in the Pool. Nelson edged McKeown 55.74 to 55.81. McKeown returned with a vengeance the following night, blazing the 5th fastest 200 back ever with a 1:59.48.
2022 FINA Short Course World Championships (Melbourn, Australia)
In a fashion she seems to be becoming known for, McKeown swam a relaxed 57.11 100 back and 2:06.07 200 IM in prelims. She dropped the hammer in finals that night with a bronze medal and new Australia Record of 2:03.57 in the 200 IM. It also makes her the 4th-fastest performer in history, which is actually two spots lower than she was before the day began as both Alex Walsh (2:03.37) and Kate Douglass (2:02.12) touched ahead of her. Just ten minutes later, she punched her ticket to the 100 back final with a 56.35 for 6th position in the semifinal. In the final the following night, she reaped gold with a 55.49.
Despite her gold in the 100 back, McKeown found herself the first woman out when she placed 9th in the 50 back semifinal in 26.09, just .07 behind the tied Julie Jensen and Maaike de Waard. She then lead off the Australian Women’s 4×50 medley relay in prelims but was supplanted by newly-minted 50 back Oceanic Record holder Mollie O’Callaghan in the final. That final relay team took gold while O’Callaghan shave a bit more off her Oceanic Record on her leadoff.
McKeown came back with a vengeance on the final day, taking the 2nd seed in the 200 back prelims behind Claire Curzan. Curzan was no match for her as she powered to a 1:59.26 for gold, beating the field by over a second and nearing her 1:58.94 world record. The 200 back win solidified the 21-year-old Australian as the second woman ever to concurrently hold Olympic, Commonwealth, long-course world, and short-course world titles in the same event. Ariarne Titmus also accomplished the feat in the 400 free. She wrapped up the session and the meet, leading off the Australian Women’s 4×100 medley relay with a 55.74 as the team placed second behind the world record-breaking Americans.
2023 Victorian Open Long Course Championships (Melbourn, Australia)
Showing off her versatility, McKeown posted a 1:06.86 100 breast and a 54.66 100 free with only a men’s 50 breast between the two, The following day she clocked the 13th fastest time in history in the 100 back with a speedy 57.93. She wrapped up her meet with a solid 1:58.21 200 free, perhaps indicating her intentions to contend for a spot on the Australian 4×200 free relay.
2023 New South Wales State Open Championships (Sydney, Australia)
With very little attention, competition, or perhaps… even rested according to her sister Taylor, McKeown fired off a time of 2:03.14 for gold, beating the field by over 7 seconds. In doing so, McKeown overtook the previous World Record mark of 2:03.35 American Regan Smith put on the books in the semi-final of this event at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju. McKeown’s lifetime best rested at the 2:04.28 national record she produced at the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials to mark her as 3rd fastest all-time.
McKeown kept things rolling with a 57.84 100 back to snatch the world-leading time back from Smith, who had posted a 57.92 earlier in the season. The swim was McKeown’s 4th fastest and the 10th fastest swim ever. In an interview post-race, she said “Regan is an unbelievable athlete and only has room for improvement…. Seeing the times she puts up is nerve-racking….it’s scary and it’s daunting to me looking when you are looking at a competitor or competitors that fierce.”
To close up her already wildly successful meet, McKeown clocked a 27.31 50 back, he second fastest, to rank 1st in the world. Just before the 50 back, McKeown neared another of her lifetime bests with a massive 2:08.27 200 IM, ranking her 2nd in the world.
2023 Australian National Championships (Queensland, Australia)
Olympic gold medalist Kaylee McKeown lowered her own All Comers Record in the women’s 200m IM to kick off her 2023 Australian National Championships campaign. She put up a 2:08.16 to shave .03 off her aforementioned record set in 2021. As now seems to be the norm for McKeown this season, she clocked another sub 58 100 back with a 57.90. The following night, McKeown turned in a quick 2:24.18 to take the 200m breast. The swim made her just the second woman ever sub-2:10 in the 200 back and sub-2:25 in the 200 breast behind Olympic Champion Ye Shiwen. To close out her meet, McKeown posted a 1:56.88 200 free to take 4th and further making clear her 4×200 relay intentions.
2023 Sydney Open (Sydney, Australia)
McKeown ripped a new career-quickest result of 2:07.19 en route to gold tonight, becoming the world’s 7th fastest woman ever in the process and 2nd fastest in Australia, just inches behind Stephanie Rice’s longstanding Australian Record of 2:07.03. The next night, she crushed a 400 IM result of 4:31.68 en route to claiming gold on day 2 at SOPAC, slicing .07 off her previous career-quickest outing. While not a personal best, on the final night, she threw down her second fastest 200 back ever with a 2:04.18, the 5th fastest time ever swum.
2023 Australian World Championship Trials (Melbourn, Australia)
While slightly off her Sydney Open 200 IM, McKeown easily took first with a 2:07.60. McKeown said post-race, “A relief to gain a qualification on the first night. Always good to blow out those cobwebs on the first race. The next night, McKeown put the world record on watch as she threw down a 57.50, just .05 shy of her own world record. Her closing split of 29.23 was faster than she closed in her world record (29.35) or her Olympic record of 57.47 (29.27). Despite signaling with her lineups at prior meets,
McKeown decided not to contest the 200 free. Her season and lifetime best of 1:56.88 would have placed 7th in the B final. After her 100 back, all eyes were on McKeown’s 200 back on night 4. While not matching her world record from earlier in her season, her stunning 2:03.70 was still the 4th fastest swim of all-time and faster than anyone but her and Regan Smith.
2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan)
McKeown had a relaxed 2:09.50 200 IM in prelims for 2nd. In semis, McKeown was disqualified for going past vertical before touching the wall in her back-to-breast turn.
In a rare move, Swimming Australia made a public comment disputing a disqualification at the World Championships, calling the decision “unjust” as there were other clear violations not called; specifically, Alex Walsh, the silver medalist in Monday’s final, had an illegal technique in the same turn in the lane right next to her in the semi-final – and was perhaps even more blatantly illegal early in the final. In absence of McKeown in the final, Kate Douglass won in 2:07.17, Walsh was 2nd in 2:07.97, and China’s Yu Yiting was 3rd in 2:08.74.
“I had a bit of a cry,” McKeown said after her 100m backstroke heat swim on Monday in Fukuoka. “A bit of an emotional rollercoaster but it’s sport and it’s what happens in sport. Unfortunately, some people just get the bad hand and I got dealt that bad hand.”
Bouncing back, McKeown cruised to a 58.90 in the 100 back prelims and improved to a 58.48, both for 2nd behind rival Regan Smith. In the final, she flipped 0.05 seconds behind Regan Smith at the 50-meter mark, but then out-split Smith 29.50 to 29.83 on the final 50 to crush a 57.53 and down Smith’s championship record of 57.57 set in 2019. Compared to her world record, McKeown was out 0.07 faster, but her back half was 0.15 slower, but it was still the #4 performance in history.
McKeown was solid in the 50 back semis (27.60 for 4th) and semis (27.26 for 2nd). McKeown made it 2-for-2 in backstroke with her 50 back. Becoming the #3 performer all-time and taking down the Oceanic record, McKeown got the better of Smith by .03 seconds in 27.08.
In the 200, McKeown laid back with a 2:09.30 in prelims. She eased through semis with a 2:07.89. Smith was out about half a second faster than McKeown at the 100 in the 200 back final but McKeown’s strong back half allowed her to dominate the race and take gold in 2:03.85, the #6 time in history. With the win, McKeown completed a historic sweep, winning the 50, 100 and 200 back. She would have been the first to do this of any strok if Qin Haiyang had not done so days before but it still means she is the first women and backstroker to sweep.
McKeown led off the mixed 400 medley relay in 58.03, the fastest of the women. The team netted silver. McKeown also led off the Aussie 400 medley relay in 57.91, 2nd fastest to Smith’s 57.68. The Aussies ended up with silver and McKeown ended her meet with 5 medals
2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup (Multi-Stop)
McKeown was pure brilliance. She had one of the single most impressive 2-week spans ever seen in swimming across the three World Cup stops in Berlin, Athens, and Budapest.
In just her first race at the first stop in Berlin, McKeown reached the wall first by more than half a second with a winning time of 27.24, in the process breaking Liu Xiang‘s World Cup record of 27.35 set in 2019. The next night, she ripped another World Cup Record, shaving a few tenths off the eight-year-old World Cup standard set by fellow Aussie Emily Seebohm (58.34). Her 57.95 topped the field by over 2 seconds She came home well in that race, splitting a 29.37, the 4th fastest back half ever. Despite being over 3 seconds off her own 200 back WR, the World Cup records kept coming in the 200 back, as McKeown’s 2:06.47 took down Emily Seebohm‘s record of 2:06.94.
In Athens, McKeown was even faster. First, she scared the 50 backstroke world record with a 27.02, a mere .04 seconds back of Liu Xiang’s WR. That swim moved her up to #2 all-time and broke her own World Cup record. She undercut her own 100 back World Cup record with a 57.63, .18 seconds off her own World Record. She was the only swimmer under 1:00 in the final. She went 3-for-3 again by crushing another World Cup Record in the 200 back with a 2:06.02. Compared to Berlin, McKeown was out way faster over the first 150 but paid just a little coming home.
More swims just seemed to bring more improvement. At the final stop in Budapest, McKeown took sole ownership of the LC backstroker world records. In the 50 back, McKeown destroyed her PB, dipping under the 27-second barrier for the first time with a 26.86 to reset Liu’s 5-year-old mark. McKeown was quick off the blocks with a .57-second reaction time. A day later, McKeown crushed another WR, taking .12 seconds off her own 100 back mark with a 57.33. Despite breaking the 50 backstroke world record yesterday, McKeown still expressed surprise after the race that she was able to break this one. She could not make it 3-for-3 in world records but McKeown did secure the triple-triple with a superb 2:04.81 200 back. That lowered her own World Cup standard from Athens (2:06.02) by more than a second.
In the end, McKeown went 9-for-9 in World Cup records in backstroke and set 2 world records. She became just the 3rd swimmer ever to hold the 500/100/200 world records of a stroke at the same time with only South African Penny Heyns and American Lenny Krayzelburg doing so in breaststroke and backstroke, respectively. She won the overall series crown, worth $100,000, $36,000 fin meet prize money, and $50,000 for her world records and triple crowns. McKeown walked away with $186,000 in total.
South African Penny Heyns and American Lenny Krayzelburg held world records in the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke and backstroke, respectively.
2023 Queensland Championships (Brisbane, Australia)
Leading off a 200 medley relay, McKeown fired off a backstroke split of 26.98 to surge her squad to the lead. That was the quickest split of the field by nearly a second. That tied the previous world record set Liu Xiang and was the #2 fastest swim ever. As had become the norm, McKeown posted another 57-second 100 back with a 57.79. She was also 1:56.14 in the 200 free in the same session. She showed off her versatility with a 54.72 100 free and a 1:07.47 100 breast. McKeown really shined in the 200 IM, posting a 2:07.54, the 2nd fastest of her career.
2024 Australian Olympic Trials (Brisbane, Australia)
Kicking things off with the 200 IM, McKeown held back in prelims with a 2:11.98, not even taking the top seed. However, there was no doubt about her win in the final, it was simply a question of how low could she go. Touching in a result of 2:06.63, McKeown sliced .36 off her previous lifetime best and Aussie standard of 2:06.99 logged just this past April at the Open Championships. That overtook retired British ace Siobhan-Marie-O’Connor‘s time of 2:06.88 to make her #3 all-time. McKeown ripped a swift 27.58 opening fly leg before dipping under the 32-second threshold for the first time in the backstroke with a 31.83. She continued the momentum on the back half to beat the field by nearly 3 seconds, splitting 36.87/30.35. That final 50 was a lot slower than her closing 50 from her previous PB.
The next morning, McKeown again relaxed through prelims, taking the 2nd seed in the 200 back with a 59.03. In the final, she actually got a decent challenge from MOC, with McKeown leading by just .18 seconds at the 50 with a 28.00. Down the stretch, McKeown pulled away with a 29.41 split to touch first by.47 seconds with a 57.41. That marked a new All-Comers record.
McKeown did actually take the top seed in the 200 back prelims, cruising to a 28.83 in prelims. In the final, she was absolutely electric. Opening in 1:00.58 (29.08/31.50) and bringing it home in 1:02.72, (31.47/31.25), McKeown nearly broke her world record with a 2:03.30, the 2nd fastest swim ever.
Throughout the meet, McKeown tried the 200 free and 100 free, missing the “A” finals. She placed 11th in the former with a 1:57.96 and 13th in the latter with a 54.75. She did not contest the events in the finals.
