Swimming’s “Super Macs” Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown Face Tough Challengers At Fina World Short Course In Melbourne
Australian swimming’s “Super Macs”, dual individual Olympic champions Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown will face some tough challengers when the FINA World Short Course Championships kick off in Melbourne today.
The dual Olympic gold medallists will have adjusted programs for the compact six-day racing schedule at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre.
ALL SMILES: Emma McKeon with coach Michael Bohl Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan
McKeon will contest both the 50 and 100m freestyle plus relays while McKeown will take on the 50, 100 and 200m backstroke as well as the 200m individual medley and relays in what will be a full program for her.
McKeon and McKeown each won two individual Olympic gold medals – McKeon in the 50m and 100m freestyle and McKeown in the 100 and 200m backstroke in a spectacular meet by the Dolphins.
But this will be their first World Short Course Championships– as they prepare for next year’s Fina World Long Course Championships, in Fukuoka, Japan in July
And their celebrated Olympic coach Michael Bohl at the Griffith University program out of the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre is under no illusions as to how tough this meet is going to be for his two super charged Olympic champions.
“For Emma it is all about advancing her way through the heats and the semi-finals and into the finals and she knows you can’t underestimate what it will take here,” said Bohl.
“There are some very good girls here for this meet, with the polish girl Katarzyna Wasick the girl to beat in the 50m freestyle.
ALL SET: Kaylee McKeown all set to go under the watchful eye of coach Michael Bohl. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan.
“She has swum faster than Emma has ever swum over 50m freestyle and with several other really fast girls it will that will give her a lot of opposition in the 50m and the 100m
“In fact Wasick’s 23.10 swum this year is not far off the world record of 22.93, held by Ranomi Kromowidjojo – so she’s going to be a fierce competitor in the 50m.
“Other girls in the mix will include US pair Tori Huske and Claire Curzan who are swimming very well at the moment.
“I was fortunate enough to watch them train when I was in the US recently at Stanford University and saw them there and they are swimming very, very well.
“It is going to be tough and in the 100m, Siobhan Haughey from Hong Kong is the reigning World Short Course champion so she is going to be very tough in that 100m freestyle. that’s for sure.
“Then there’s fellow Australian Madi Wilson who improves every time she gets in the water in the 100m freestyle as well.
“There is no doubt in my mind it is going to be a tough old meet but Emma is looking forward to the challenge and seeing what she can do to finish off the year with…”
McKeown will be chasing a rare feat when she attempts to add the 100 and 200m backstroke titles to her Olympic and Commonwealth Games doubles and her 2022 World Long Course title over 200m backstroke – holding all four major 200m titles at once.
McKeown holds the world record in the 200m backstroke with a time of 1:58.94 while her team mate Minna Atherton holds the world record in the 100m backstroke at 54.89, set in Budapest in 2019.
COLD AND GOLD: Leah Neale and Madi Wilson. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan.
She and Atherton will line up in the 200m backstroke, while McKeown and World and Commonwealth 100m freestyle champion O’Callaghan will feature in both the 50 and 100m backstrokes.
And a busy opening day for McKeown with the 100m backstroke-200IM double with a major focus on the 200m backstroke as she chases her own slice of swimming history – adding the World SC to her World LC, Olympic and Commonwealth Games golds.
“Kaylee has been relatively injury free touch wood and she won’t have things all her own way either – she has added the 50m backstroke and the 200IM and she is a fair way down the rankings in those,” said Bohl.
“She is just not built with the brute strength you need for the 50m and is outside the top eight and fifth going into the 100m backstroke and 200IM so she’s coming from well back in the field in those.
“Kaylee of course is the world record holder of course in the 200m backstroke but like Emma, Kaylee too has some challenges ahead of her.
“But she is looking forward to seeing what she can do and finish off the year with some positive swims…and looking for a nice little break after the meet is finished.”
ON TRACK: Lani Pallister locked in the track start position at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan.
Amongst others to keep an eye on will be 2016 Olympic champion Mack Horton (400, 800m freestyle), a rejuvenated Clyde Lewis (100 and 200IM), Australian short course record holder over 800 and 1500m freestyle Lani Pallister (400, 800m, 1500m freestyle), Olympic relay bronze medallist Tommy Neill (200, 400m freestyle), world record holder over 100m backstroke Minna Atherton (200m backstroke), World and Commonwealth 100m freestyle world champion Mollie O’Callaghan (50, 100m backstroke) and Commonwealth 200m butterfly champion Lizzy Dekkers (200mm butterfly).
It will be a different world championship meet for Mollie O, who staked her claim as one of the world’s pre-eminent sprint freestylers in 2022 although she has emerged as somewhat of a backstroke sleeper – winning silver in the 50m backstroke in Birmingham and with her powerful turns could well be a surprise packet.
The Championships will be staged over six days with heats in the morning sessions and the semi-finals and finals in the evening – televised in Australia on Channel 9’s Wide World of Sports.
The total prize money for the 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne 2022 is a cool $US2.16 million dollars for the best-ranked swimmers in individual events and for the best-ranked relay teams in relay events.
The prize money will be equally distributed to men and women for both individual athletes and relay teams from 1st place to 8th place.
It will be the first time the World Short Course Championships have been hosted in Australia since the inaugural meet in Palma de Majorca in Spain in 1993.
Australia has a celebrated history at the Short Course World’s – winning a total of 242 medals across 15 meets – 79 of those medals gold.
And this Australian team will be looking to add to those totals when they welcome the world down under.
FAST FACT: The legendary Susie O’Neill held every 200m butterfly title from 1994 through 1999 – which included Olympic gold in 1996, Pan Pac gold in 1995, 1997 and 1999; World Championship gold in 1998; World Short Course gold in 1995 and Commonwealth Games gold in 1994 and 1998.