McKeon’s owning all the Aussie swim bling

OF THE six medals the Australian team won in the first four days of the world championships in Budapest, Emma McKeon had a hand in four of them and she is only midway through her program.

The 23-year-old (below) has become the linchpin of the Australian team’s campaign this week, producing consistent excellence as she attacked a seven-event program.

By yesterday she had collected four silver medals and was contending with US star Katie Ledecky for the biggest medal haul of the week with three events remaining.

McKeon began and ended the fourth night of finals on the podium, tying with Olympic champion

Ledecky for second in the 200m freestyle to kick off the program and later swimming the butterfly leg of the 4x100m mixed medley relay.

McKeon and Ledecky were in the centre lanes and fought stroke for stroke for most of the race but Italian world record-holder Federica Pellegrini came home with a late burst to claim the gold medal in 1min 54.73sec.

The 2008 Olympic champion, 28-year-old Pellegrini has now won a medal in the 200m at the past seven world championships (from 2005), a record unlikely to be beaten.

McKeon and Ledecky hit the wall together in 1:55.18, slower than both had swum in the semi-finals.

“I was pretty happy with how I went even though I went quicker in the semi, because it takes a lot of guts to take it out like I did, especially in the final with the Olympic champion on one side of me and the world record-holder on the other,’’ McKeon said.

“I am pretty proud of myself for doing that. I gave it my all and I am happy.’’

McKeon returned in the last event of the night to combine with Mitch Larkin (backstroke), rookie Daniel Cave (breaststroke) and Bronte Campbell (freestyle) in the new Olympic event, the mixed medley relay, to win silver for Australia.