The prospect of competing at a home Olympics could be the driving force that convinces Australian swimming star Kaylee McKeown to extend her career. The five-time Olympic gold medallist is set to head to Glasgow in July for what appears to be her final Commonwealth Games as she contemplates her future beyond the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Competing at her third Commonwealth Games, the 24-year-old backstroke ace had previously mentioned the need for a mental reset. McKeown, who holds the world records in the 50m and 200m backstroke, has spoken openly about experiencing severe mental lows following her successful Paris Olympics campaign.
In 2024, McKeown became the first swimmer to successfully defend Olympic 100m and 200m backstroke titles and the first Australian to win four individual Olympic gold medals. She now heads to Glasgow aiming to defend her 100m and 200m crowns won at the 2022 Birmingham Games.
McKeown was among the athletes at the Dolphins’ team uniform launch in Sydney, where Speedo designed the training and race wear for the 42-strong able-bodied squad and 18-strong para squad.
“You never know when it’s going to be your last. The last Commonwealth could have been my last,” McKeown told AAP. “After LA, I’m going to take some time off and probably think about what I want to do. I’m not putting something out of the question at all. I just need the time off. I’ve been doing this for a very long time now. Well, it feels like a long time. I just need the mental refresh.”
The plan to step away and consider her future after an Olympic campaign mirrors the path taken by champion teammate Ariarne Titmus after Paris 2024. Fresh off her last race, Titmus said she would spend “up to 12 months” out of the pool but did not return and eventually announced her retirement in October last year.
McKeown made her Commonwealth Games debut in 2018 on the Gold Coast, and the allure of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics is hard to ignore. “I would love to be able to represent my country on home soil,” McKeown said. “I missed out on 2000 (Sydney Olympics). I was born in 2001, so I missed out on it completely, but you hear about it. You hear about all the greats and just the amount of people that were there to support them. There’s nothing better. I had the Commonwealth Games in 2018 on home soil, and that was cool in itself, so I couldn’t imagine an Olympics.”
Regaining the 100m world record from Regan Smith remains at the back of McKeown’s mind, with her US rival setting the benchmark of 57.13 seconds in 2024. McKeown shook off illness at last week’s swim trials to book her spot in Glasgow, posting the fastest times of the season in the 50m (27.13) and 200m (2:03.98) and the third-fastest in the 100m event (57.77).
The six-time world champion will face off against Smith at the Pan Pacific championships after Glasgow, heading to California in August. “I was the fastest I’ve been this year, so I can’t have any complaints about that,” McKeown said. “It is a tough world record, but there are people that are striving for that. I’ve got a target on my back, and there are other girls who have targets on their back.”
