Meet Australia’s most crucial swimming star
THE multi-talented Emma McKeon is fast becoming the most valuable swimmer in the Australian team.
Two days into the Budapest world championships she was Australia’s only multiple medallist (two silvers) and was only one third of the way through her six-event program.
Australia’s most-decorated Olympian in Rio last year, where she won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals on debut, the 23-year-old has moved to a higher plane this year, as she demonstrated by setting a new national record to take the silver in the 100m butterfly yesterday.
McKeon’s time of 56.18 sec makes her the fourth fastest 100m butterflyer ever and she eyes off a sub-56 second swim which would put her in the elite company of the last two Olympic gold medallists in the event, Sarah Sjostrom (2016) and Dana Vollmer (2012).
Swedish sensation Sjostrom retained her world title in a near world record of 55.53 seconds yesterday, 24 hours after smashing the 100m freestyle record leading off her nation’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
McKeon faces what is arguably the toughest competition of any swimmer in her three individual events this week.
She runs into Sjostrom (100m free and fly) or Katie Ledecky (200m freestyle), the top two female swimmers in the world, at every turn. But where others might be deflated by that prospect, McKeon is thriving.
“You want to have tough people in your event because it lifts you and inspires you, and makes you push harder and train harder and want to be up with them,’’ she said.
“It’s a good thing, I think.’’