Australian Trials: Kaylee McKeown Misses 200m Backstroke World Record By Just 0.56secs clocking 2:03.70
The world’s premier women’s backstroker Kaylee McKeown has posted the fourth fastest time in history – just over half-a-second outside her own world record in the 200m backstroke in Melbourne tonight – a record the young Queenslander doesn’t expect to last past the World Championships.
“I’m fully expecting both my world records to plummet if not next week (at the US Trials) then at the World Championships,” said McKeown.
The 21-year-old from the Gold Coast was under her own world record pace – set in March in Sydney – through the first two laps at the Australian World Trials before just dropping off the pace to clock 2:03.70 – her second fastest time ever.
After a slight delay at the start due to a technical issue with one of the backstroke starting ledge at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre, McKeown was just 0.56 outside her own world mark of 2:03.14, swum at the NSW State Championships in March.
Comparative Splits:
World Record (10/03/23) World Trials (16/06/23)
29.32 29.22
1:00.73 1:00.72
1:31.84 1:32.21
2:03.14 2:03.70
McKeown (Griffith University, QLD) now owns six of the fastest 10 times ever swum for 200m backstroke – her arch rival and previous world record holder from the US, Regan Smith has the second and third fastest times, McKeown is at number four, US Olympic champion Missy Franklin is at five with McKeown having the next four fastest times followed by Franklin again with the 10th.
And despite the slight delay with the field in the water, McKeown was happy with her time and put it down to race experience.
“I was very happy with that…the second fastest time I’ve ever posted and to do that here with that little muck up at the start it is good race practice,” said McKeown.
“Hearing I was under world record pace at the 50 and the 100m it was no wonder my legs hurt over the last 15 metres – I’m still learning how to pace a 200m with that easy out-speed so I think I probably went out a little bit too hard and didn’t have my back end like I usually do, but I’m a happy girl.
“I would have never thought in a million years I would have been able to go under 2.04 let alone twice now.
“If I can take anything away from that race it’s just trusting the process more and working on the underwaters.”
McKeown has now qualified for three events for the World Championships in Fukuoka next month, the 100 and 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley.
And the Dolphins women’s team continues to take shape with her fellow Tokyo gold medallist Ariarne Titmus adding a third event – the 800m freestyle after winning in her second fastest time ever – 8:15.88 (1:59.59 and 4:04.57) to add the Olympic silver medal event to the 200 and 400m freestyle along with the 4x200m freestyle relay.
And joining Titmus (St Peters Western, QLD) will be World Short Course champion Lani Pallister (Griffith University, QLD) who tried to stay with Titmus for as long as she could after leading down the first lap, finishing second in 8:20.56 (2:00.95 and 4:06.81) with Titmus now moving to second on the 2023 rankings behind Olympic champion Katie Ledecky (8:13.56) with Pallister seventh. Titmus SPW club mate Kiah Melverton was a gallant third in 8:26.65 – also under qualifying.
“The 800m is never easy, no matter what time of year it’s always a tough race especially if you have the intent to take it out and hang on,” said Titmus.
“”It’s two seconds off my best so that’s not too bad; I just have to trust my speed and try and not get caught up with the girls around me.
“I just to have to trust my swimming and do my job. But we’ve had such good depth for such a long time in the 800m and to have the top three girts underneath qualifying is pretty good.”
Meanwhile in the women’s 200m butterfly Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lizzy Dekkers (Chandler, QLD) set a new Australian All-Comers record – clocking the third fastest time by an Australian in 2:05.26 – bettering the 2015 All-Comers mark held by 2016 Rio silver medallist Maddie Groves at 2:05.41.
Dekkers, just 19, has rocketed up the rankings to become the 14th fastest 200m flyer of all time ranking her third fastest in the world leading into Fukuoka – and she surpasses Australia’s “Madam Butterfly” Susie O’Neill on the Australian rankings and a time O’Neill had set when she broke the original “Madam Butterflyer” American Mary T. Meagher’s long-standing world record at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Trials.
Joining Dekkers in Fukuoka will be her Birmingham team mate, Abbey Connor, who was fourth in those Games and who had quit the sport earlier this year only to have her fire re-ignited by a phone call from triple Olympian and Australian Swimmers Association president Bronte Campbell and an eventual change in scenery and a move to the Queensland Sunshine Coast from her Sydney-base at Revesby Workers.
After consultation with Swimming Australia’s High Performance department, the 18-year-old reunited with her Games coach Mick Palfrey at the USC Spartans Performance HUB on the Sunshine Coast – and the result was a World Championship qualifying time of 2:07.61 – rankings her 10th in the world.