Kaylee McKeown has flagged she is fed up with waiting to break her backstroke records after another sterling meet at the Australian Swimming Trials.
Despite dominating the field in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, McKeown was not impressed by her performances as she struggled with illness.
The 24-year-old said she was feeling about 86 years old after winning the 100m on Tuesday and was in pain again after the gruelling 200m on Thursday night.
“I just wanted to go out and see what I could come with,” she told Channel Nine after her program wrapped up.
“In that last 50m I was in so much pain.”
Ultimately, the world, Olympic and Commonwealth champion maintained her backstroke dominance with a season-best 2:03.98, just 0.84 for a second off her world record and almost four seconds faster than second-placed Iona Anderson (2:07.59).
Despite the comprehensive victory, McKeown was downbeat after the race.
At the halfway mark, McKeown was on pace to break her world record — a 2:03.14 set at the NSW State Championships in 2023, the same year she also claimed world-best marks in the 50m and 100m — but she could not keep up that speed and eventually dropped behind the red line in Sydney.
Unfortunately, she is cursed by her own lofty standards.
“I haven’t PB’d in like three-and-a-half years, so I’m waiting for it,” she said.
McKeown swam a personal best in the 100m as she won gold at the world championships in Singapore last year, but remained 0.03 outside Regan Smith’s world record, set in 2024.
