Aussie swim legend Susie O’Neill on her awkward first meeting with rising Olympic star Kaylee McKeown

Like everyone else in Australia, Susie O’Neill has become an instant fan of rising swim star Kaylee McKeown but you wouldn’t have guessed after their awkward first meeting.

Recruited to help mentor the next generation of emerging Australian Olympic stars, swimming legend Susie O’Neill was left blushing behind her own face mask after an awkward first meeting with new backstroke sensation Kaylee McKeown.

Like everyone else in Australia, O’Neill has become an instant fan of the rising Queensland star after watching her incredible performances at the Olympic trials but when they met for the first time, “Madame Butterfly” didn’t recognise the youngster right next to her.

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Big things are expected of Kaylee McKeown in Tokyo. Picture: Getty Images

“We were on the tarmac, about to get on the flight to Tokyo, and I was walking alongside this young girl and I just asked her ‘what sport do you do?” O’Neill said.

“She said ‘swimming’, so I took a closer look then realised who it was and said ‘oh wow, you’re Kaylee McKeown.

“I felt so bad because I’m really looking forward to watching her swim but that was a funny way to introduce myself to her.”

In O’Neill’s defence, there were some mitigating circumstances that made virtually impossible to identifying any of the hundreds of competitors on board the Qantas charter flight.

McKeown’s face was covered by a face mask and she was also wearing spectacles, which catches out everyone used to seeing her in the pool with just her goggles on.

Just 20 and a first time Olympian, McKeown is typical though of the many, young athletes O’Neill is on call to help after she accepted the role of assistant team chef de mission.

A three-time Olympian who won eight medals, including two individual golds, and transcended the sport through her accomplishments both in and out of the water, O’Neill has also been candid about the pressure and expectation she felt as an athlete.

Susie O'Neill at Cairns Airport before she departed for Tokyo with the Australian Olympic team. Picture: Getty Images

Despite always appearing composed, one of the first things O’Neill tells young athletes is that she was often anxious before big races.

“One of the reasons I go around telling everyone that I was nervous is to let younger athletes know that it‘s normal,” she said.

“I always thought gold medallists are really confident and have no self doubts so I just trying to normalise that feeling because it‘s OK to get nervous at a big competition, it means you’re going to go well, it’ll give you extra energy.”

Although Tokyo is going to be unlike any other Olympics, O’Neill also said there are a lot of lessons she can pass on from previous Games.

“It‘s not about getting into athlete’s faces, it’s kind of just being around as a sounding board if they want to talk to us but only if they ask for it, because once athletes get to that level, they’re generally fairly professional,” she said.

Susie O’Neill’s exploits in the pool are the stuff of legend. Picture: Craig Borrow

“The main thing is to go with the flow. I think the athletes that can adapt with all the changes and things they haven‘t experienced before will be the most successful.

“Once you get to the actual field of play or that, it‘ll become like a normal competition so they should just concentrate on what they need to do and not get distracted by outside noise.”

The one thing O’Neill won’t be doing – again drawing from her own experience – is making any rash predictions about how well the swim team will do, despite all the signs pointing to a big medal haul.

“I‘m always mindful at this stage because I’ve watched so many Olympics and leading into the swimming, it’s like ’yeah, wow, we’ve got the best team ever yaddah, yaddah, yah, then the first day starts and then everyone starts getting knives and starts attacking them.” O’Neill said.

“Certainly on paper it looks good and by all accounts, they had a very good camp in Cairns as well. But whether it converts, you never know, that‘s the excitement of the Olympics, isn’t it?”

Originally published as Aussie swim legend Susie O’Neill on her awkward first meeting with rising Olympic star Kaylee McKeown