Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown reigns supreme with 100m gold at Paris Olympics

The queen of the women’s 100m backstroke is back. On Tuesday night, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown defended her Tokyo title in a fast and furious battle with Regan Smith. The American had taken McKeown’s world record just last month, but in Paris the Australian out-touched her opponent in the race for the wall to reassert her dominance of the two-lap discipline.

Between them, McKeown and Smith hold all 15 of the fastest times in history in the 100m backstroke. Since Tokyo, they have traded the world record and world titles. But on Tuesday, only one could emerge victorious.

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It promised to be a thrilling race: the pair were separated by just two one-hundredths of a second in the semi-finals. And it delivered. So much for a slow pool. The pair were almost level at the turn, before McKeown powered home in the final metres to set a new Olympic record, beating her own mark from the Tokyo Games.

“The nerves were definitely there,” McKeown said after the race. “But I just reminded myself it’s a pool, in a different venue, and I train every single day of my life. It was a great atmosphere to be amongst.”

McKeown joins Dolphins teammate Ariarne Titmus, and swimming legend Dawn Fraser, as the only Australian women to defend their individual Olympic gold medals. American Katharine Berkoff rounded out the podium, while McKeown’s compatriot Iona Anderson finished fifth.

After McKeown opened the night with gold, Australia’s 4x200m relay swimmers bookended the night with another medal for the Dolphins – bronze behind Great Britain and the United States. It is Australia’s first bronze medal of the Paris Olympics, and a repeat of the team’s efforts in Tokyo and at last year’s world championships.

Max Giuliani led out the Australians, finishing his laps in fourth-place, before a flying effort from Flynn Southam moved the Dolphins into third. Elijah Winnington maintained Australia’s position, remaining in touching-distance of the British and Americans, before 22-year-old Thomas Neill secured the bronze medal – even giving the United States a scare in the dying metres.

In the men’s 800m freestyle final, Winnington – who won a silver medal in the 400m event on the opening night of the meet – went out hard to lead for the first half of the race. But Winnington struggled to stay with the pack as long-distance specialists Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri and American Bobby Finke made their move in the closing stages. Winnington ultimately placed eighth, while Wiffen became the first Irishman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the pool.

Earlier in the night, Rio 2016 gold medallist Kyle Chalmers secured a berth in the men’s 100m freestyle final by winning his semi-final and clocking the second fastest time overall. Chalmers anchored the Australian men to silver in the 4x100m relay on Saturday with an ominously fast last leg – below the current world record, although Chalmers’s effort does not count as a new record due to the flying start in relay transitions. He will race for gold on Wednesday.

Australian pair Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan both qualified comfortably for the women’s 100m freestyle. O’Callaghan, who won the 200m freestyle gold medal barely 24 hours ago, turned in sixth in her semi before powering home to touch first - recording the third best time overall. Jack finished second, behind Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, in the faster first semi-final.

In the men’s 200m breaststroke, meanwhile, Australia’s defending Olympic champion won his semi-final to qualify third fastest. Local favourite Léon Marchand posted the quickest time overall in the other semi-final. Australian Joshua Yong also progressed to Wednesday’s final, placing eighth overall, but China’s current world record holder Qin Haiyang missed out in 10th.

McKeown’s successful defence of her 100m crown is a golden start to what could be a historic Olympic swim meet for the Queenslander. Already a three-time gold medallist from Tokyo, the 23-year-old will race in two more individual events in Paris: the 200m backstroke, where she faces another duel with Smith, and the 200m individual medley. McKeown did not contest the four-stroke race at the last Olympics, wanting to limit her program load at her debut Games.

At last month’s trials in Brisbane, McKeown set the fastest time in eight years. After being disqualified in the semi-finals of the 2023 world championships, in a contentious decision over an allegedly illegal back-to-breast turn, McKeown is raring to go in the individual medley. If McKeown wins both of the remaining races on her individual program, she would join Emma McKeon as the most successful Australian Olympian in history – with six gold medals.

McKeown is also expected to race for Australia in the women’s 4x100 medley relay and the mixed medley relay; Australia is a prospect of securing medals in both relays.

“It’s one race at a time,” said McKeown. “I’ve ticked off three boxes so far [heats, semi-finals and final]. And there’s a few more to go hopefully. It’s just a matter of rocking up on the day – step by step.”

In other words, the Michael Bohl-coached swimmer has a busy few days ahead at La Défense Arena. But on Tuesday, McKeown began her Paris campaign in the best possible style.