Tokyo Olympics 2021: Kaylee McKeown’s coach reveals tactics behind young star’s rise

Kaylee McKeown went into the Olympics ranked No.1 in the world in 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke. So how has her coached ensured burnout is not a threat?

Kaylee McKeown could change Australian swimming forever if she wins gold in Tokyo, not for what she’s done, but for what she hasn’t.

A rare and precocious talent, McKeown is Australian swimming’s best kept secret, even though she’s been hiding in plain sight for years.

Few Australians know who she is right now but if everything goes to plan, she’ll be a household name across the nation by the end of the Tokyo Olympics.

Selected for the Australian team in 2015 when she was still in her mid-teens, those closest to her made a critical decision at the time that went against the conventions for preparing a swimmer for the Olympics.

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Backstroke world record holder Kaylee McKeown at the University of Sunshine Coast pool before heading to Tokyo for the Olympic Games. Picture: Lachie Millard

And if their instincts are right, that decision could be about to bear fruit, and possibly even change the template for other young swimmers tempted to increase their training workload so they can get to the top as quickly as possible.

In McKeown’s case, she and her family and her coach Chris Mooney agreed to break from tradition and do the complete opposite.

Instead of rushing things and adding to her workload, they reduced the Queenslander’s training sessions and took their time, encouraging McKeown to prioritise her studies while slowly and steadily improving her swimming.

Kaylee McKeown as a Year 9 student at the 2015 Georgina Hope Foundation Australian Age Championships in Sydney.

“We’ve had her on a long term athlete development tracking plan for a long time. It was important for us that that was the case,” Mooney said.

“She was never a ten session a week type athlete. There was a lot of focus put on her schooling. Education was important.

“Even when we went to the (2018) Commonwealth Games and (2019) world championships, she was in grade 11 and grade 12 and she was still only doing five full sessions a week.”

Coach Chris Mooney sits with McKeown during a training session in Cairns in July. Picture: Delly Carr

Although there was no guarantee, Mooney always believed McKeown’s times would dramatically improve as soon as he increased her workload, but by delaying that as long as possible, he avoided the risk of burning her out.

Now 20, McKeown is absolutely flying and goes into the Olympics ranked No.1 in the world in 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke.

She broke the 100m backstroke world record at the recent Australian trials and came within a whisker of adding the 200m record, but Mooney isn’t taking anything for granted, knowing that the pressure of the Olympics can change everything.

“There’s two stages to becoming an Olympian. The first one is to make the team and the second one is to compete and to achieve your dream, to produce that ultimate performance,” Mooney said.

“The job’s not done yet. We’ve still got to perform at that particular moment when the pressure and the expectation are colliding.”

The reason Mooney is loath to talk up McKeown’s chances is because he knows from first hand experience how quickly everything can change in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of Olympic swimming.

He coached McKeown’s older sister Taylor to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Taylor went into the final as the fastest qualifier but was just fractionally off her best in the race for the medals and finished fifth, but won a silver medal in relay.

Taylor McKeown looks on after her race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Picture: AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

Kaylee, seven years younger than Taylor, has been turning in some impressive times in training, suggesting she is on track to peak in Tokyo, but Mooney said he was also expecting her rivals to be quick as well.

“The race is absolutely stacked with talent, whether you‘re talking about the 100m back or 200m back or the 200 IM. It’s going to require something special, isn’t it?” he said.

“Kaylee’s very compliant. She goes to places that not a lot of people go and I suppose it’s probably my job to focus on perhaps what those other girls are doing.

“We‘re blessed, we’re fortunate, we’re focused. We’re really excited to compete in a field that’s stacked with talent and stacked with amazing athletes.

“We‘ve been working really hard on the little things that hopefully will make the difference. We’re not taking anything for granted. We need to get a lane in this final first then we’re looking to execute the perfect race.”