Kaylee McKeown Blasts 2:06.99 200 IM Aussie Record, #5 Performer All-Time

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2024 AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, April 17th – Saturday, April 20th
• Prelims at 10am local (8pm previous night ET), Finals at 6pm local (4am ET)
• Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Queensland, Australia
• LCM (50m)
• Non-Olympic Qualifying Event
• Women’s Races to Watch/Men’s Races to Watch
• Meet Central
• Final Start List
• Live Results (also available via Meet Mobile: “2024 Australian Open Championships”)
• Australian Channel 9 Livestream / YouTube Livestream

The 2024 Australian National Championships may not be a Paris 2024 qualifying event but Kaylee McKeown downright owned the women’s 200m IM race as if an Olympic gold medal was on the line.

Leading wire-to-wire, McKeown crushed a new lifetime best of 2:06.99 to put the entire world on notice as she confirmed she is indeed chasing this event for her Olympic event lineup.

22-year-old Olympic champion McKeown overtook the supersuited Australian national record of 2:07.03 Stephanie Rice put on the books in 2009 en route to becoming the #5 performer in history.

Comparing McKeown’s splits between prelims and finals, the superstar ripped an opening fly leg that was over a second faster, while her back was also well over a second speedier than the morning result.

But she also saved some gas for the final 50m, getting under the 30-second threshold to bring it home.

SPLIT COMPARISON:

	2024 AUSSIE OPEN FINAL	2024 AUSSIE OPEN PRELIM	2023 AUSSIE TRIALS
50 Fly	27.84	29.14	27.74
50 Back	32.10	33.58	32.08
50 Breast	37.48	35.52	37.25
50 Free	29.57	30.42	30.53
Total	2:06.99	2:08.66	2:07.60

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

• World Record – 2:06.12, Katinka Hosszu (2015)
• Australian Record – 2:07.03, Stephanie Rice (2009)
• Commonwealth Record – 2:06.88, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (2016)
• Australian Olympic QT – 2:10.62

GOLD –  Kaylee McKeown, 2:06.99 *Australian Record
SILVER – Ella Ramsay, 2:10.71
BRONZE – Isabella Boyd, 2:13.22

Top 10 Women’s LCM 200 IM Performers All-Time

1. 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2015
2. 2:06.15 – Ariarne Kukors (USA), 2009
3. 2:06.88 – Siobhan O’Connor (GBR), 2016
4. 2:06.89 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2023
5. 2:06.99 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2024
6. 2:07.03 – Stephanie Rice (AUS), 2009
7. 2:07.05 – Kate Douglass (USA), 2024
8. 2:07.13 – Alex Walsh (USA), 2022
9. 2:07.57 – Ye Shiwen (CHN), 2012
10. 2:07.75 – Yu Yiting (CHN), 2023

McKeown now ranks #1 in the world, usurping American Kate Douglass.

As mentioned, McKeown confirmed on deck after the race that she will be pursuing Olympic qualification in this event just as she did for the 2020 Olympic Games. She wound up dropping the 200mIM off her Tokyo program.

The 200 IM overlaps with the 200 backstroke at the 2024 Olympic Games. Prelims and semifinals of the 200 IM are on the same day as the final of the 200 backstroke. In finals, the final of the 200 backstroke is scheduled to begin just 55 minutes before the start of the semifinal of the 200 IM.

The next day, the 200 IM final is 34 minutes before the final of the mixed 4×100 medley relay. McKeown led off Australia’s 4×100 mixed medley relay to bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games and led the relay off to silver at the 2023 World Championships.

McKeown swam the event at 2023 Worlds but was disqualified in semifinals for the back to breast turn as she did not touch the fall fully on her back. In other words, she rotated too far during the cross-over turn too early.

SwimSwam: Kaylee McKeown Blasts 2:06.99 200 IM Aussie Record, #5 Performer All-Time