World Champs Profile: Kaylee McKeown Chasing Another Global Sweep
Leading into the start of the World Championships later this month, Swimming World will publish a handful of short profiles on top contenders for the podium in Singapore. Our next entry in this series features Kaylee McKeown, Australia’s backstroke star who is chasing history.
Kaylee McKeown
Australia
Events: 50 Backstroke/100 Backstroke/200 Backstroke
The Road to Singapore
It has been an impressive first half of 2025 for McKeown, who is surely carrying confidence into the World Champs. In addition to boasting three sub-58 performances already this year in the 100 backstroke, McKeown heads into Singapore with the top-two times in the world in the 200 backstroke, paced by a clocking of 2:04.47.
Top Career Achievement
At last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, McKeown completed her second sweep of the backstroke events, as she won the 100 and 200 distances at La Defense Arena. Those triumphs followed gold-medal swims in the 100 backstroke and 200 back at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which were held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 delay.
Previous World Champs Hardware
Between individual and relay duty, McKeown owns 12 medals from the World Championships, including a sweep of the backstroke events (50/100/200) at the 2023 installment of the meet in Fukuoka. Although she won’t contest the event this summer, McKeown was the silver medalist in the 200 individual medley in 2022.
Stat Fact
McKeown owns 10 of the 15-fastest times in the history of the 100 backstroke and six of the 10-quickest performances all-time in the 200 backstroke, including her world record of 2:03.14. In the 100 back, the 21-fastest times ever recorded belong to McKeown or American Regan Smith (profile to come), who holds the world record at 57.13.
World Champs Profiles
Really hoping Kaylee can continue to dominate the American and not only sweep the 3 events, but take the 100m WR of her rival too!