MELBOURNE — Kaylee McKeown continued her excellent form, swimming the fifth fastest 50 metres backstroke of all time to win the Australian Open Championships, where Ariarne Titmus also impressed.
The 22-year-old had already set Australian records in both the 200 and 400 metres individual medleys in the last two days, and swam 27.07 seconds in the 50 metre backstroke to set a new all-comers record, the fastest time ever recorded in Australia.
McKeown, the reigning Olympic 100 and 200m backstroke champion, broke the world record in the same event in Budapest last year with a time of 26.86 seconds, Reuters reported.
Mollie O’Callaghan set a personal best of 27.16, matching McKeown’s previous all-comers record, to take the silver medal, having won gold in the 100 metres freestyle and backstroke at the event.
Titmus, world record holder and Olympic champion, impressed when winning the 400 metres freestyle in a time of 3:59.13, the best time in the world this season, and the Australian’s first sub-four minute performance of the season.
McKeown broke Stephanie Rice’s long-standing Australian record in the 400 metres individual medley with a scintillating swim.
A day after breaking Rice’s 200 metres record at the Australian Open Championships, McKeown took down her 400 mark from the super-suit era with a swim of four minutes 28.22 seconds, the fourth fastest all-time in the gruelling event.
Only Canada’s world record holder Summer McIntosh (4:25.87) and Hungarian medley great Katinka Hosszu have swum faster.
O’Callaghan will be among the favourites to win 100 and 200m freestyle gold at Paris Olympics but her rapid improvement in the backstroke strengthens Australia’s hand in the medley relays.
Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook won a thriller in the men’s 200m breaststroke final, edging Japan’s Ippei Watanabe with a time of 2:07.50.
Stubblety-Cook held the 200m breaststroke world record and world title until both were swiped by China’s Qin Haiyang (2:05.48) at Fukuoka last year.
Young gun Flynn Southam edged out Australian team mate Elijah Winnington for the men’s 200m freestyle title with a personal best of 1:46.11.
The rising 18-year-old helped Australia win the 100m freestyle relay at Fukuoka last year and will target a spot on the 200m programme at Olympic trials in June.
O’Callaghan hit the wall on the Gold Coast in an eye-popping 1min 53.57sec, with an explosive last 50 pulling her away from Titmus, who touched second in 1:55.38.
During the final day of the 2024 Australian Open Championships in Gold Coast, world record holder O’Callaghan won the women’s 200 freestyle in 1:53.57.
“I’m always striving to go fast,” said O’Callaghan, who also won the 100m title.
“The 200 is a difficult event to work out and this was the last time to get it worked out before trials,” she added according to AFP.
Australia’s Olympic trials are at Brisbane in June, with the 20-year-old potentially targeting six gold medals in Paris this summer.
All-conquering backstroke star McKeown will also be in the hunt for multiple Olympic titles.
She clocked the fastest 200m backstroke of the year ahead of American arch-rival Regan Smith by powering home in 2:03.84 to miss her world record by just seven-tenths of a second.
“I just wanted to go out hard and try and hang on,” said McKeown, who was under world record pace at the halfway mark.
