Aussie Star Kaylee McKeown Taking Remainder of Year Off from International Racing
Australian superstar Kaylee McKeown, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, will not compete in international competition during the remainder of the year. The 25-year-old, who was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships due to glandular fever, revealed the news to journalist Tom Decent, the Chief Sportswriter for the Sydney Morning Herald. McKeown’s decision to not race internationally means she will bypass the World Cup circuit and December’s World Short Course Championships in Beijing.
According to Decent’s article, McKeown has reduced her training load, both in terms of sessions and intensity, as she recovers from her illness. The double-Olympic champion in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, McKeown is taking a longer view on her career, namely focusing on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“My health comes first and I want to be ready for next year and the year after,” McKeown told Decent. “If that means taking the rest of the year off, that’s what I have to do. The end goal for me is getting to LA and being in the best shape possible. I’m not even close to where I want to be. But I’m also being patient with myself.”
McKeown plans on racing at next summer’s World Championships in Budapest, which will serve as a dress rehearsal of sorts for LA28. As she builds toward that meet, McKeown will gradually intensify her training. As she listens to her body, McKeown is taking note of what is unfolding in the sport, including the lowering of her world record in the 50 backstroke by Italian Sara Curtis.
At the European Championships, Curtis twice lowered McKeown’s global standard in the 50 backstroke, taking it down to 26.56 in the final. McKeown told the Sydney Morning Herald that the loss of that world record has been motivating.
“It fuels the fire in the belly … I’m all for taking people down,” McKeown said. “Mentally, it takes the pressure off me. (Curtis is) going to be asked all the hard questions. She’s the one who’s supposed to win this event. I’m just going in trying to chase her down. That’s the way I like it going in.”
