- Kaylee McKeown broke a Stephanie Rice record
- He performed well in the 400m individual medley.
- But he has no plans to compete in the Paris event.
Backstroke star Kaylee McKeown has declared her foray into the women’s 400m individual medley a “one-off” despite breaking Stephanie Rice’s record for the second night in a row.
McKeown bettered Rice’s Australian record in the women’s 200m individual medley on Wednesday night.
And he did it again on Thursday, triumphing in the 400m individual medley in another record-breaking display at the Australian Open Championships on the Gold Coast.
McKeown’s time of 4:28.22 broke the mark of 4:29.45 set by Rice at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
So the question arises: Will McKeown add the 400m individual medley to his schedule for the 2024 Paris Olympics?
Kaylee McKeown broke Stephanie Rice’s record on Thursday
‘No. One and done. “That’s me,” McKeown said.
McKeown, who wants to add the 200m individual medley to his backstroke schedule in Paris, paid tribute to Rice after breaking another of his Australian records.
‘I don’t think she was erased in any way. She is a legend of the sport and she always will be,” said McKeown, who holds the world record in the women’s 50, 100 and 200 meters backstroke.
“I’m trained by the same coach (Michael Bohl) and he knows what he’s doing.”
The women’s 50-meter freestyle final produced a tie when Shayna Jack and Meg Harris touched in a time of 24.28 seconds.
Emma McKeon (24.46) took bronze, while Australian record holder Cate Campbell (24.79) was left without a medal.
A drug ban meant Jack missed the Tokyo Games in 2021, but he is on track to make his Olympic debut in Paris.
The Australian Open Championships have no bearing on Olympic selection, and trials for the Paris Games will be held in early June in Brisbane.
But he has no plans to continue competing in the 400-meter individual medley.
“I think for any of us it would be great, and for me personally it would be special to say (I’m an Olympian),” Jack said.
Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook (2:07.5) survived a major scare to beat Japan’s Ippei Watanabe (2:07.62) in the men’s 200m breaststroke.
He added to Stubblety-Cook’s gold in the 100m breaststroke on Wednesday night.
The 25-year-old Australian won gold and set a world record in the 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Games.
Her world record has since been broken and Stubblety-Cook wants to win it back.
“I tried the top,” he said.
‘You get to the top and you realize how good it is. You desperately want to go back there.
Elizabeth Dekkers (2:05.20) defeated Brianna Throssell (2:06.98) in the women’s 200m butterfly.