Aussie Selection Trials, Day 2, Finals: Kaylee McKeown Digs Deep To Keep Unbeaten Backstroke Record Intact
Australia’s Olympic backstroking queen Kaylee McKeown showed why she remains unstoppable in Sydney tonight, keeping her seven-year unbeaten record in major finals intact, despite swimming under a sickness cloud.
The 24-year-old Queenslander had to pull out all stops at the Australian Trials Meet to keep her Paris Olympic teammate, Iona Anderson at bay, after the 2024 World Championship silver medallist had beaten McKeown in the morning heat.
And in the final it was Anderson (Highlanders, WA) coming back from a back injury which sidelined her for last year’s WorldChampionships, who edged in front of the world’s greatest female backstroker at the 50m turn.
The 20-year-old Western Australian touching in 28.46 with McKeown (USC Spartans, QLD) a only marginally behind in 28.52.
And in true McKeown fashion, the toughest of racers, powered off the wall with her young rival trying to hang on, Kaylee digging deep and unleashing her trademark back end to win in 57.77 – the third fastest time in the world this year.
Anderson finished second and her time of 58.60 fast enough to book her place on the Australian Commonwealth Games team for Glasgow – giving Australia a two-pronged backstroking attack.
McKeown had been a surprise withdrawal from the day one 200IM, electing to look after her body, concentrating on the 50m backstroke which she won in a thriller in the fastest time of the year from fellow Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan, as news spread around the pool that she was “under the weather” with sickness.
When asked on Australia’s host broadcaster Channel 9 after the race, how her body was holding up ? McKeown played it down, saying, “It’s holding together ok…at the end of the day it’s important to show that no matter what, you have to stand up and give it your best…you don’t get things given to you in life, you have to put it together and see what you can do.”
And 24 hours after nudging the 400m freestyle world record, 22-year-old Queenslander Sam Short (Rackley, QLD) made it a daily double, barnstorming home in his second personal best of the day to win the 200m freestyle – swimming near pbs on his way through clocking 1:45.16 after his 1:45.52 in the morning.
Short was always going to challenge the field from behind and that’s just what unfolded with his Paris Olympic teammate Kai Taylor (St Peters Western, QLD) and Ed Sommerville (Brisbane Grammar, QLD) taking the field out.
Taylor leading at the 50m turn in 24.15, Sommerville taking over to lead through the 100m in 50.75 and at the final 150m turn in 1:18.13 as the field started to come together – Short stalking them in third and fourth place for most of the race.
But unleashing a “money lap” down the third 50 in 26.99 to turn in second – producing the second fastest final 50 of 26.94 to win a blanket finish from Taylor (1:45.30), Harrison Turner (1:45.71) and Sommerville (1:45.72).
Taylor clocking his first pb in three years, Turner, the 200m butterfly World Championship bronze medallist last year, his pb also; with Sommerville – who is the only swimmer who has swum sub 1:45 rounding off what could well be the most exciting 4x200m free relay team for many years.
“My only strategy for tonight was to stay with Ed (Sommerville). I thought Ed was the man to beat tonight, the sole 1:44-minute swimmer in the field, so I was trying ride off him as long as I could … then it was just us three boys in a sprint finish.
“I thought I had no shot getting that (time). If you had asked me a week ago if I was going to go (1:45min) I would have said ‘no chance’.”
Turner wasn’t done for the night, lining up in the 100m butterfly final which saw Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Matt Temple (Marion, SA) charge to his sixth National title in a Games qualifying time of 50.50 – second placed Olympian Ben Armbruster (Bond, QLD) second in 51.00 and Turner third in 51.47 – both just outside the QT – but pushing Temple to the wall.
