McKEON IN BLITZ ON SWIMMING AWARDS
EMMA McKeon scooped the pool last night, winning two major honours at Swimming Australia’s gala awards dinner.
McKeon, who trains out of the Griffith University program, won the Swimmer’s Swimmer award and the Gina Rinehart Patron award.
The 23-year-old was Australia’s MVP at the world championships in Budapest in July, winning six medals – four silver and two bronze. It was the biggest medal haul by any Australian woman in a long course world championship.
Triple-Olympian Emily Seebohm (Brisbane Grammar) was awarded the Olympic Program Swimmer of the Year. It is the second time she has won the award, sharing it with Cate Campbell in 2015.
Seebohm won her fifth world championship gold medal when she successfully defended her 200m backstroke title in Budapest, less than a year after missing the final in the same event in Rio.
The 25-year-old also won a silver and two bronze medals at the world titles which followed surgery in December.
“I have said I want to train up until 2020 and like Liesel (Jones) go to four Olympics and be recognised as one of Australia’s best ever swimmers,” said Seebohm, who was also a finalist for Sport Australia’s inspirational ‘Don Award’ this year.
“I didn’t have that long a break after Rio because I knew if I didn’t keep swimming that I would probably get into that phase where ‘oh I could take the year off,’ and then do I ever come back after that?”