Paris Olympics, Day 6 Prelims: Kaylee McKeown Cruises to Third Seed in 200 Back as Peng Xuwei Leads

Kaylee McKeown -- Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Paris Olympics, Day 6 Prelims: Kaylee McKeown Cruises to Third Seed in 200 Back as Peng Xuwei Leads

Australia’s Kaylee McKeown already came through in the 100 backstroke against world-record holder Regan Smith to defend the gold medal she won three years ago in Tokyo. McKeown will be favored to do the same in the 200-meter distance, an event in which she set the world record last year at 2:03.14.

McKeown and American rival Regan Smith sit more than one second ahead of the field entering the event, while only three other women brought in entry times under 2:07, allowing the favorites to cruise through the first round. McKeown showed some early speed in her heat, but she slowed and allowed American Phoebe Bacon to nearly catch her down the stretch. McKeown clocked 2:08.89, just ahead of Bacon’s 2:09.00, and those times ranked third and fourth, respectively, after prelims.

Bacon finished fifth in the final three years ago in Tokyo, and she won silver at the 2022 World Championships, just four hundredths behind McKeown. After missing the U.S. World Championships team last year, Bacon responded at this year’s U.S. Olympic Trials to sneak onto the Olympic team in the event.

World Record: Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:03.14 (2023)
Olympic Record: Missy Franklin, USA – 2:04.06 (2012)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Kaylee McKeown, Australia – 2:04.68

When Smith, the former world-record holder in this event and silver medalist behind McKeown at last year’s World Championships, took to the pool in heat three, energy conservation was her central focus as she prepares to swim both the 200 butterfly final and 200 backstroke semis in the evening session. Well behind her heat for the majority of the race, Smith accelerated on the final turn and moved into second place, but she could not catch China’s Peng Xuwei.

Peng topped the race in 2:08.29 to take the top time overall in the session while Smith touched out Anastasia Shkurdai for second, 2:09.61 to 2:09.64. Smith qualified for the semis in sixth position, and she will be a heavy favorite to make the podium in her third and final individual event of the meet.

Canada’s Kylie Masse, the silver medalist in the event behind McKeown three years ago, missed a third consecutive Olympic podium appearance in the 100 back by just three tenths. As she embarked in the longer distance, she notched a mark of 2:08.54 in prelims as she led throughout the second heat of the event and finished a full second ahead of the field, with Great Britain’s Honey Osrin the next-best at 2:09.57. Masse ended up second-best in prelims overall while Osrin was fifth.

Three other swimmers broke 2:10: France’s Emma Terebo (2:09.66), Hungary’s Eszter Szabo-Felthothy (2:09.72), Korea’s Lee Eunji (2:09.88) and Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan (2:09.92). Hungary’s Dora Molnar was the last swimmer into the next round at 2:10.51.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use