Kaylee McKeown Trying to Reclaim 100 Backstroke Supremacy After Worlds Withdrawal
The three primary contenders for the world title in the women’s 100 backstroke were each seeded to swim in separate preliminary heats at the recent World Championships. After former world-record holder Regan Smith and defending champion Kylie Masse each won their respective heats, lane four was vacant in the final heat. Kaylee McKeown, the world-record holder and Olympic gold medalist, was out of the event.
McKeown was not sick or injured or anything of the sort. She simply decided to give her full attention to the 200 IM final coming up that evening and scheduled for just 40 minutes after the 100 back semifinal. She was not the first swimmer to make such a decision facing the World Championships schedule. Katinka Hosszu, the Olympic champion in the 100 back in 2016, did not swim the event at Worlds in either 2015 or 2017 because of the conflict with the 200 IM. But Hosszu is an IMer above all else, while McKeown had established herself as the world’s premier backstroker while trying to add the IM events to her lineup.
Rohan Taylor, the head coach of the Australian swim team, said after McKeown’s withdrawal that she and her coach, Michael Bohl, wanted to “give her international experience in that medley for an investment going forward.” Taylor added, “It’s more about managing her program,” and said that McKeown still planned on racing the 100 back at the Commonwealth Games.
In the 200 IM final, McKeown finished with a silver medal, a very solid swim considering Alex Walsh went 2:07.13 for gold, and McKeown would later win gold in the 200 back by touching out American Phoebe Bacon and lead off Australia’s mixed 400 medley relay and women’s 400 medley relay, both of which won silver medals. But her backstroke was not at the same level she achieved in 2021. Her 200 back was eight tenths back of her personal best, and her relay leadoff splits were 58.66 and 58.77, nowhere near the 57.45 she swam at Australia’s Olympic Trials last year to break Smith’s world record or the 57.47 she notched on her way to Olympic gold last July.
But now, the 100 back comes back into focus for McKeown at the Commonwealth Games, with the final scheduled for Sunday, July 31. In Birmingham, England, McKeown will find a familiar rival in Masse, and the two swim with very different styles as the Canadian tends to attack with first length of the race while McKeown has superior finishing speed.
Winning gold will be first priority, of course, but all eyes will be on the clock for this one as McKeown pursues the top times in the world this year. Smith won the world title in 58.22, but her semifinal time of 57.65 was the sixth-fastest effort in history. Only Smith and McKeown have ever been quicker, but McKeown’s best this year is a 58.31 from back in February at the Victoria Open. During the leadoff leg of the women’s medley relay, McKeown finished well behind both Masse and Smith.
Yes, McKeown is still the world-record holder and still the Olympic champion, and barring any surprising developments, she will likely head to the 2023 World Championships as the gold-medal favorite. But the 21-year-old Aussie will still be under some pressure in her lone international appearance this year in the 100 back.
