The term “historic” is often used too freely. However, on Friday night, a crowded La Défense Arena was treated to something genuinely historic in the Paris Olympic swimming pool. Kaylee McKeown etched her name into history as the first Australian swimmer to defend not just one, but two individual Olympic gold medals. The previous Tuesday, she claimed the 100m backstroke title in a stunning Olympic record time. Just seventy-two hours later, McKeown repeated her feat by defending her 200m backstroke gold medal from Tokyo.
Her gold medal contributed to an exhilarating eight minutes for Australia at the pool, coming right after veteran Dolphins swimmer Cameron McEvoy, making his fourth Olympic appearance, secured gold in the men’s 50m freestyle. Australia now tops the Paris Olympics swimming medal count with seven golds, five silvers, and one bronze; two nights of competition remain.
Where to begin with McKeown’s remarkable journey? With four individual gold medals amassed over three years spanning two Olympics, she stands as the most individually decorated Australian Olympian of all time. Her teammate, Emma McKeon, has six golds, four of which are from relays. Both Ian Thorpe and Mollie O’Callaghan have five gold medals, largely aided by relays. McKeown’s latest triumph brought her total to five gold medals, including four individual victories and one medley relay win in Tokyo.
Prior to Friday, only eight Australian Olympians had three individual gold medals to their name—a prestigious list that included Thorpe, Ariarne Titmus, current Paris flag-bearer Jess Fox, and swimming legends Dawn Fraser and Betty Cuthbert. McKeown has surpassed that milestone, now sitting alone with four individual golds. The seven other names were already in elite company, but as of Friday, McKeown is in a category all her own.
The significance doesn’t end there. Following Friday’s achievement, McKeown is now tied with the esteemed Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi for four Olympic backstroke gold medals. No other woman in the history of the Games has achieved more than two. Egerszegi is often seen as the greatest female backstroke swimmer ever, and McKeown’s accomplishments surely place her in that esteemed company. To date, no swimmer—male or female—from any country has ever won the backstroke double and successfully defended it at the subsequent Olympics. For McKeown, “historic” is the only fitting descriptor.
Entering the race as the world record holder and two-time world champion in 2022 and 2023, all eyes were on McKeown from lane five. She touched third at the initial turn and again at the halfway mark before surging ahead as per her usual style, fending off a late charge from American rival Regan Smith to triumph in an Olympic record time of 2:03.73.
McKeown’s victory continued a golden streak for the Dolphins on day seven of the swimming program, occurring just minutes after McEvoy claimed his gold. The 30-year-old veteran sprinted away from the pack in the final meters, finishing first in a time of 21.25. The crowd erupted for Frenchman Florent Manaudou, who secured third place, adding to the celebratory atmosphere surrounding McEvoy’s triumph.
As the oldest member of the Australian swim squad, McEvoy is experiencing a resurgence in his late career. After stepping away from the sport in 2021 following the Tokyo Games, he returned with a fresh training approach and soon tasted success—winning the one-lap dash at the 2023 world championships and narrowly missing gold at this year’s events by just a single one-hundredth of a second.
McEvoy’s win is monumental as well. Until now, no Australian man had secured a medal in the 50m freestyle at the Olympics; the closest was a fourth-place finish by Ashley Callus in Beijing 2008.
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The impressive and daunting aspect of Kaylee McKeown’s incredible success is that, at just 23 years old, the Queenslander may have at least one more Olympics ahead of her. Even before the conclusion of the Paris 2024 swimming events, she is set to compete in two medley relays (the women’s event and the mixed relay) and the 200m individual medley.
Although McKeown didn’t participate in the four-stroke discipline during the Tokyo Games, she holds the fastest time for this year. If her four individual gold medals are historic, another word may be warranted come Saturday night as McKeown aims for her fifth.
