Kaylee McKeown tops rival Regan Smith for another major title at swimming worlds
McKeown won in 57.16, just missing the world record, with Smith just behind in 57.35 for silver. Both were among the top five times in the event's history. American Katharine Berkoff took bronze in 58.15.
Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff take silver and bronze in the women's 100m backstroke. 🥈🥉
📺: Peacock | #AQUASingapore25 pic.twitter.com/Dudjl0VEaF
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2025
Smith was a fraction ahead at the 50-meter mark, but McKeown passed her coming home for her second world title in the event.
It's the fourth time in four tries that McKeown has outpaced Smith in the event at either an Olympics or world championships. Smith also took silver behind McKeown at the Paris Olympics and 2023 worlds and earned bronze in the Tokyo Olympics behind McKeown and Canada's Kylie Masse. Smith won gold at the 2022 worlds, which McKeown did not compete in.
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Smith's time was her third-best ever and is now the fifth-best in the event's history. But one of those four superior swims was McKeown's in the lane next to her Tuesday.
'That's my third-best time ever,' Smith said in an interview on Peacock. 'What more can you do? I have no control over how fast Kaylee swims. I'm going to choose not to be frustrated — 57.35 is pretty fantastic.'
Though McKeown has owned the biggest meets, the rivalry is still one of the best in swimming. Smith is the current world-record holder, setting the mark of 57.12 at last year's U.S. Olympic trials. She also set the Olympic record of 57.28 in Paris — the event's second-best time ever before Tuesday — but it came in the women's medley relay, in which the U.S. beat McKeown's Australian squad for gold. In the individual 100-meter final, McKeown beat Smith 57.33 to 57.66.
McKeown now has five world championship golds and 13 overall medals.
(Photo of, from left, Regan Smith, Kaylee McKeown and Katharine Berkoff on the podium Tuesday: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)
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