Emma McKeon got caught up in the devastating Australian summer bushfires and was unable to train for five days

A brush with Australia’s devastating summer bushfires meant Emma McKeon as unable to train for five days but the brief disruption only put things in perspective for the Griffith University swim squad member.

A brush with Australia’s devastating summer bushfires meant Emma McKeon as unable to train for five days but the brief disruption only put things in perspective for the Griffith University squad member.

Emma McKeon poses during a Swimming Australia National Event Camp Media Opportunity at Gold Coast Aquatic Centre on February 24, 2020 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

On a family holiday in Lake Conjola in early January, McKeon and her father Ron and mum Susie spent a terrifying night on the beach and were later evacuated from their home as bushfires tore through the New South Wales coastal village.

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Desperate to give back to an aching community, the 25-year-old and her brother David staged a fundraising swimming clinic held in Wollongong earlier this month aimed at raising funds for bushfire relief.

The clinic saw some of Australia’s greatest swimmers, including Ian Thorpe, Cate Campbell and Paralympian Monique Murphy coach the next generation of budding swimmers on stroke and breathing techniques as well as nutrition and fatigue management.

Emma McKeon joined a host of Australian swimming stars for a charity swimming clinic at Wollongong University Aquatic Centre. All proceeds from the clinics will be donated to the NSW Rural Fire Service and Red Cross. (News Corp/Simon Bullard)

“We’ve grown up going there for the past 20 years so it was pretty hard to see that happen to the area and the people who live there permanently so that was pretty sad,” McKeon said of her brush with the bushfires.

“Being there was unbelievable.

“When you drive out and drive through it all, just to see it is just shocking and it’s why we wanted to put that bushfire clinic on and do what we could to help.”

Ian Thorpe AM joined a host of Australian swimming stars for a charity swimming clinic at Wollongong University Aquatic Centre. (L to R) Jarrod Poort, Jess Hansen, Cate Campbell OAM, David McKeon, Ian Thorpe AM, Emma McKeon, Jason Cram and Monique Murphy. All proceeds from the clinics will be donated to the NSW Rural Fire Service and Red Cross. (News Corp/Simon Bullard)

Now back on the Gold Coast as part of a Dolphins butterfly and butterfly and backstroke camp, McKeon has been taking steps beyond intensive training to ensure she’s ready to attack her second Olympic Games.

McKeon, who was Australia’s most successful swimmer in Rio with four medals, adding a further four gold and two bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, believes she is emotionally better placed four years on to cope with the challenges of performing on sport’s biggest stage.

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“All Olympics are different but already having done one, I’ll know what it’s all about and probably not get as overwhelmed as last time,” she said.

“Having the experience is always going to be an advantage.

“Worlds, Olympics, and Commonwealth Games, it’s all such fast racing and I just learn more about myself each time I go to one of those heats as well.”

A scheduling quirk means Tokyo Olympics swimming finals will be held in the morning while the heats will take place at night which has led to athletes taking extra steps to counter the additional juggle.

“I’m not much of a morning person even though I wake up so early but I’m trying to become a morning person,” McKeon said.

“I’m just doing what I can now to practice for that and working on my sleeping and trying to replicate that day where you do a heat in the night, sleeping and then a final in the morning.”