Aiming to Become Australia’s Katie Ledecky, Kaylee McKeown Eyes to Break Off-Court Record Post Swimming World Cup 2023

Katie Ledecky is truly an American swimming paragon. She is the only swimmer on Team USA right now who can safely come close to Swimming GOAT Michael Phelps’ legacy. Michael Phelps holds the record for earning the most Olympic medals while Ledecky has the highest number of World Championships medals. She added a few more at the 2023 Fukuoka World Championships and occupied all top 15 spots on the 1500-meter freestyle leaderboard.

After her tiring campaign in Japan, she decided to sit out of the Swimming World Cup 2023. This gave her Australian counterpart Kaylee McKeown a golden opportunity to triumph. She is now the strongest contender for the 100-meter backstroke gold medal at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kaylee McKeown’s remarkable record at the Swimming World Cup

Swimming Stats informed the swimming fans of Kaylee McKeown’s impressive feat in the Athens leg of the Swimming World Cup 2023. On a Twitter post, captioned, “During the 2023 Swimming World Cup in Athens, Kaylee McKeown won the women’s 100 backstroke in 57.63. This is a new World Cup record, and also the 6th fastest performance of all time, just 0.18 seconds off her own world record”. The post also contained a complete chart of McKeown’s achievements in the 100-meter backstroke over the years. Her personal best in the race is 57.45 which she made in the 2021 Olympic trials. At the Olympics, she came close to rewriting her world record with a finish of 57.47. At the Swimming World Cup 2023, she once again came close to rewriting history.

With her 57.63 finish in Athens, Kaylee McKeown made the World Cup record and occupied six top spots on the leaderboard. The only other woman to feature on the Top 10 list is American sensation Regan Smith. On the other side of the spectrum, Katie Ledecky holds the top 15 fastest times in the challenging 1500-meter freestyle race. Just months into the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kaylee McKeown revealed the secret to her success.

Kaylee McKeown’s secret recipe for success

Kaylee McKeown spoke to World Aquatics after her golden race and said, “I spoke with my coach before the race and we discussed the possibility of the (world) record, but my goal was just to swim faster…We are benefiting from the experience of back-to-back racing and that’s really why we are here”. Both Regan Smith and Kaylee McKeown posted world record times in Fukuoka. While her competitor Regan Smith took time off to rest after the World Championship, the Australian did not want to lose her momentum.

Read More: Swimming World Cup 2023: Michael Andrew, Kaylee McKeown and Others Etch Their Names in History Books on Day 2

Kaylee McKeown took two weeks of rest after Japan and then jumped back into the pool. That has made a huge difference for her. With the 2024 Paris Olympics lurking in the background, this was a good strategy. Now it remains to be seen if Katie Ledecky can continue her streak even with months of rest from competitions.

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