‘Good stepping stone’ as Australia’s Kaylee McKeown shatters own 100m backstroke world record
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Australia's Kaylee McKeown was the best female swimmer at the World Championships in Fukuoka on July 30.
PHOTO: AFP
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BUDAPEST – Kaylee McKeown hailed a “stepping stone for the future”, as she smashed a second world record in as many days by improving on her own 100m backstroke mark on Saturday.
The Australian touched in 57.33 seconds at the World Cup in Budapest to shave 0.12sec off the time she set in Adelaide before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
McKeown, 22, now owns the five fastest times in the event as she builds up to the 2024 Paris Games.
The new mark comes a day after she clocked 26.86sec for a 50m backstroke world record, improving on the previous best of 26.98sec set by China’s Liu Xiang in 2018.
That made her the first woman ever to hold world records in all three backstroke events and the first swimmer since American Lenny Krayzelburg set all three men’s marks in 1999.
“No, I honestly didn’t think about swimming a world record,” McKeown said after her 100m exploits.
“I was really relaxed coming into tonight. I tend to swim better when I go out a bit faster, I am trying to learn to swim a bit sharper.
“I’m happy that some of the things we are trying are working. This is a good stepping stone for the future.”
McKeown can complete a clean sweep by winning the 200m next.
The Australian swept the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke titles at the World Championships in July and also owns the Olympic 100m and 200m golds. The 50m backstroke is not contested at the Games.
Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, meanwhile, won the 200m freestyle, setting a World Cup record of 1min 54.08sec.
“I am really happy with the time,” said the 25-year-old, who won the 100m-200m free double at the Hangzhou Asian Games a month ago.
“Obviously a best time would be great because I have done a best time in all of the other races that I have swum. The 200 free is the event that I train for but that’s OK, I am sure my best time will come soon.”
China’s Qin Haiyang won the 50m breaststroke in 26.30sec, ahead of Briton Adam Peaty (26.79) and American Nic Fink (26.89). He was just 0.01sec slower than his own World Cup record set in Germany two weeks ago.
“I had wanted to refresh the World Cup record today. It was so close. But I missed it by a little bit. It’s a bit of a pity, but it’s not important,” said the Hangzhou Asiad’s male MVP with five gold medals. AFP, XINHUA
