Kaylee McKeown Details A Bumpy Road From Paris To World Championship Glory

2025-09-23

Today on the GMM Podcast we sit down with Kaylee McKeown, the undisputed queen of backstroke. In Singapore, Kaylee swept the 100 and 200 back, blasting a personal best 57.16 in the 100 and nearly matching her world-record pace in the 200. What makes this story interesting is what came before it. Post-Paris, Kaylee struggled in training, so much so that she made the bold decision to return to her home club and reboot. That reset worked. By the time Worlds rolled around, she was back in control. But it...

Today on the GMM Podcast we sit down with Kaylee McKeown, the undisputed queen of backstroke. In Singapore, Kaylee swept the 100 and 200 back, blasting a personal best 57.16 in the 100 and nearly matching her world-record pace in the 200.

What makes this story interesting is what came before it. Post-Paris, Kaylee struggled in training, so much so that she made the bold decision to return to her home club and reboot. That reset worked. By the time Worlds rolled around, she was back in control.

But it wasn’t all smooth water. While Kaylee avoided the stomach virus that cut through the meet, she did face a shoulder dislocation scare and, in her own words, a bout of “constipation at Worlds” — her funny, unfiltered way of pointing out the irony compared to her competitors' health woes.

In this episode, Kaylee breaks down:

The reset that carried her from post Olympic training struggles to World Championship dominance.
What it’s like facing Regan Smith again and again on the world stage.
That she is confirmed for the World Aquatics World Cup this fall.
Context behind the Australia Swimmers Association, an independent org supporting Aussie elites swimmers.
And a candid look ahead as she weighs where to focus her energy next summer, Commonwealth Games vs Pan Pacs.

Comments (3)