Once in a while, there comes such a prodigy in sport who threatens the legacy of even the greatest in it. Kaylee McKeown has successfully achieved that. Winning nine Olympic medals in just two editions, she could already be considered one of the greats at the age of 23. Therefore, when she speaks about swimming or Australia, one has to give due importance to it.

Swimming Australia, the country’s governing body in swimming, has been in a deep crisis lately after their tension with World Aquatics (the international governing body of the sport). Amid this, during a podcast, Kaylee McKeown opened up about the problems of the national body. The comments by Kaylee were made in front of two American legends who hosted the podcast.

On October 9, Kaylee McKeown joined the Unfiltered Waters Podcast. It is hosted by US Olympic champions Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin. In a rapid-fire round, Kaylee was asked what one thing about swimming in Australia would surprise her if she were an American swimmer. After a few moments of pause, Kaylee chose to talk about an adverse aspect of the organization. She said, “I’ll throw them under the bus and say (they’re) not organized at all”.

However, later on in the podcast, Kaylee herself defended Swimming Australia by saying, “They try their best, and that’s all that matters.”. Interestingly, the two hosts, Katie and Missy, immediately agreed with the Australian. “That checks out; yeah, we have definitely had our fair share of trips that could have been a little bit more organizationally smooth,” said Missy. The US swimmer’s main Australian experience came in the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships on the Gold Coast.

Though her time there has been termed very successful since she bagged four medals, the swimmer must have faced some issues with the arrangement, for she agreed readily with Kaylee McKeown’s statement. Katie Hoff took part in the 2007 World Aquatic Championships held in Melbourne. Although she did win three medals, she was also willing to concur that there was some incompetency on the part of the Australian organization. Such arguments do not seem baseless looking at the situation the organization is currently in.

It all started last October when Swimming Australia was on the verge of expulsion from the World Aquatics (AQUA). As a member federation of AQUA, Swimming Australia’s corporate governance must comply with the constitution and rules of World Aquatics, which was missing. However, on that occasion, it narrowly escaped the massacre after its member associations voted to accept constitutional reform at a special general meeting on October 20, last year.

The voting members polled 8-1 in favor of adopting a new constitution, in accordance with the governance requirements of World Aquatics and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), and had the support of the Swimming Australia board. The new constitution, which aimed to be more representative and inclusive while giving athletes and coaches more of a voice, was supposed to come into effect after the annual general meeting on October 25, 2023.

It had also proposed to create an athletes’ commission that would nominate candidates to the Swimming Australia board as athlete director. The number of members entitled to vote was supposed to be increased from 9 to 21 as well. But even after a year, the organization failed to implement the reforms despite repeated warnings from the top international body.

This has reignited the fear of the country’s expulsion from the World Aquatics. “We know what the deadlines were, because they’re very clear in the Constitution to have this change brought in by the end of April. That deadline has clearly been missed. So that’s one of the main concerns of World Aquatics,” CEO of Simming Australia Rob Woodhouse said. If this happens, the consequences can be disastrous.

Australian swimmers would be bound by the same rules that apply to Russians. This means they can’t swim in their national colors or have the national flag or anthem displayed at medal presentations. Indeed, Kylee’s comments could not have come at a more relevant moment. But even amid the crisis, she could still mutter something about the American swimmers.

Kaylee McKeown talks about Australia’s perception of US Swimmers

During the same podcast, Kaylee McKeown was asked about Australian swimmer’s perceptions of their American counterparts. Kaylee quipped that they felt that US people were too loud. The swimmer was further asked whether she felt they were annoying. She denied it and repeated that they were just too loud. After this, Katie Huff commented on the matter, emphasizing that she felt both countries’ sense of humor was different.

While the Australian one is sarcastic and mostly at the expense of other people, the US humor almost builds each other up too much. To this, Kaylee McKeown somewhat agreed. While she doesn’t know much about the US, the Olympic gold medalist does feel that Australian banter can sometimes be based on making fun of the other person. But it doesn’t matter as long as the party on the receiving end doesn’t get offended.

It was interesting to see top swimmers of both countries interact in a way that gives us more insight into their lives, especially given one of them is at the top of their game right now. With the Swimming World Cup soon approaching, we might get to see Kaylee McKeown back in action soon and treating us with her impeccable performances.