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Kaylee McKeown in sad post-race admission after being caught up in Aussie DQ drama
Kaylee McKeown in sad post-race admission after being caught up in Aussie DQ drama

Yahoo

time4 hours ago

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

Kaylee McKeown in sad post-race admission after being caught up in Aussie DQ drama

Swimming stars Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O'Callaghan have opened up about their struggles after the Paris Olympics, after the backstroke world record holder had a disqualification at the Australian selection trials overturned. McKeown was left absolutely devastated in the heats of the Aussie selection trials for the Swimming World Championships next month. A subtle head movement before her 50m backstroke race saw her disqualified from the race and leaving her chances of qualification hanging by a thread. Cate Campbell initially believed McKeown's chances of overturning her DQ would be slim. Footage showed the Olympic gold medallist flinching - which is illegal in backstroke - while waiting for the start of the race. "There was a little head movement. From the time the starter says 'take your marks' to the point the gun goes, you have to remain completely still," Campbell said on Channel Nine. McKeown was disqualified for an early start, but after a two-hour appeal, the ban was overturned. McKeown argued she was distracted by movement prior to the starter's signal and the officials agreed. McKeown - the world record holder - went on to win Monday night's final at the South Australian Aquatic Centre in 27.33 seconds. She managed to hold out young swimming superstar O'Callaghan in a tight race to secure her position at the world championships in Singapore. Although she was well shy of her world record of 26.86 global benchmark set in October 2023. And the five-time Olympic gold medallist showed real grit having used the earlier drama to propel her to victory. "Things happen and it just crumbled that way," she said. "I knew as soon as I started, what I had done. But thankfully we had the technology to look back at footage and saw the distraction and I got reinstated." World Record Holder Kaylee McKeown was called for a False Start in the 50 Back Prelims. (McKeown is in lane 4) — SwimSwam Live (@SwimSwamLive) June 9, 2025 And bravely, McKeown opened up on her mental health battles after being so successful in the pool at the Olympics. McKeown became the first Australian swimmer to win four individual medals at an Olympics after blitzing the competition in Paris. The 23-year-old has five Olympic gold medals and became one of the superstars of Australian sport. However, late last year McKeon withdrew from the World Cup series in China just one day into the competition having admitted she needed ti priorities her mental health. And after speaking to Channel Nine after earning qualification to Singapore in her best event, McKeown was honest about her state of mind. "Coming off the Olympics, I was in a really dark place mentally," McKeown said. "When you go from such a high, straight back to such a low, and you're left scrambling for ideas on what you're going to do next, it is hard to find your feet once again." Speaking about the mental battles, McKeown said Aussie swimmers place a lot of pressure on themselves when competing for their country. "I don't think people really know ... how much pressure we put on ourselves," McKeown added in Adelaide. "You're just so fixated on wanting to swim for yourself, for your country and for your team. You have all that amount of pressure to just do it ... and it (winning or not) really just comes down to nail bites." And in a touching moment, O'Callaghan agreed with McKeown and opened up about her own struggles. "I'm the exact same as Kaylee," O'Callaghan said. "There's immense pressure to perform at the Olympic Games, it's the pinnacle of our sport." O'Callaghan shot to superstardom in the pool having beaten Ariarne Titmus in the 200m event. She finished with three individual gold medals, before she had even turned 20 years old. And the swimmer admitted all the time in the pool meant she had lost a lot of her social life. "I noticed I don't have friends outside of swimming because I have dedicated such a strong amount of time from school to now," O'Callaghan said. And it was being able to separate swimming and her private life that enabled O'Callaghan to find that balance. "That was something after the Olympics I got to learn, was actually having that freedom for five months to be able to go places, do things, without the consequence of swimming or having swimming in the back of my mind," she added. "And it's just a nice refresher to know that there's opportunities and there's other connections outside (swimming) because a lot of the time our bubble is just swimming." Readers seeking support can contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (13 11 14)

McKeown reveals post-Olympic struggle after winning 50m backstroke at Australian trials
McKeown reveals post-Olympic struggle after winning 50m backstroke at Australian trials

ABC News

time5 hours ago

  • Sport
  • ABC News

McKeown reveals post-Olympic struggle after winning 50m backstroke at Australian trials

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Kaylee McKeown has survived a disqualification scare to qualify for the Swimming World Championships in Singapore. The backstroker was sensationally disqualified for moving on the blocks in her heat of the women's 50m backstroke on the first day of the Australian Swimming Trials in Adelaide, before lodging a successful protest. After several hours, officials upheld the protest ruling that she was distracted by movement just before the start signal. The final was the race of the night, with McKeown winning in 27.33, just .06 seconds ahead of Mollie O'Callaghan — an Olympic freestyle gold medallist. "It's not the first time I've been DQ'd, not something that you really want to practice," she said. She wouldn't elaborate on what happened apart from confirming she was distracted. "Things happen and it just crumbled that way, I knew as soon as I started what I'd done, but thankfully we have the technology to look back at footage and saw the distraction and yeah, got reinstated," she said. She said she was disappointed with her time, but didn't blame the distraction and subsequent protest. "Tonight just wasn't my night, didn't swim the way that I wanted to," she said. "Racing at 10 o'clock at night for a 50 isn't exactly ideal, but I can keep throwing out all these excuses. At the end of the day, I just haven't done the work I would have usually done with my prep. She said she struggled after her double gold success in the 100m and 200m backstroke events at the Paris Olympics. "I think when you go from such a high straight back to such a low and you're kind of left scrambling for ideas on what you're going to do next, it is hard to find your feet. "I don't think people really know, and Mollie can second this, how much pressure we put on ourselves. "I lost my world record [to American Regan Smith], same as Mollie going into Paris, and you're just so fixated on wanting to swim well for yourself, for your country, and for your team. "And you know you just have all that amount of pressure to just do it under, you know 58 seconds. O'Callaghan said she also felt immense pressure. "We don't really have a life outside of swimming. It's just all swimming," she said. With Ariarne Titmus in commentary for Channel 9 during her year's sabbatical from swimming, Lani Pallister stepped up to win the women's 400m freestyle final in a personal best time of 3:59.72 with Jamie Perkins more than three seconds behind. Both women have qualified for the World Championships. The final took place a day after Canadian Summer McIntosh smashed Titmus's former 400m free world record by more than a second. Pallister said she was excited by McIntosh's world record. "She's incredible. She's so young," she said. "I think it's silly to ever say that you doubt anyone. You know Ariarne dropped the record so many times, so I don't think I thought it was going to stay stagnant for long. "I also think it's really incredible for women's swimming going forward and everything we've done over the past decade." McIntosh was also an inspiration for the winner of the men's 400m freestyle, Sam Short, who blitzed down the pool in of 3:41.03 — his fastest time in two years. "She's incredible, I love watching her swim," he said of McIntosh. "It's contagious, I love watching greatness in any sport." Short finished fourth at the Paris Olympics — a performance he described as "a failure". "Took me a while. I did a lot of work with sport psychology," he said. "In our eyes it's a little bit of a failure, but I've got tonnes of mates back home who would literally chop their legs off just to get the opportunity to come fourth in the Olympics," Short said. The man who claimed the silver medal in the 400m at Paris, Elijah Winnington, was second almost three seconds behind Short, but did enough to qualify for the World Championships. The retirement of Emma McKeon has opened up a spot for a new madam butterfly in the Australian team. Alexandria Perkins is the heir apparent after making the semifinals at the Paris Olympics and now she'll be going to the World Championships after winning the women's 100m butterfly in a personal best time of 56.42. She said it was a relief to make the World Championships team. "Definitely, I think 100 fly is always on day one and this time it was the first event, and we've still got the 50 tomorrow but it's such a relief to get the ticket booked on that flight over to Singapore," she said. She said it was a strange experience racing without the presence of McKeon. "She's been at the forefront of this event for so long and she's just so talented and she was amazing role model to look up to. "It sucks that she's not here to race anymore, but hopefully we can bring 100 fly for Australia at the next big meets."

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