Kaylee McKeown breaks 100m backstroke world record at Australian short course titles

Kaylee McKeown was going stir-crazy trying to take a rest after the Paris Olympics. So the backstroke star jumped back in the pool and casually broke another world record.

Kaylee McKeown’s insatiable appetite for training and racing has once again led her to incredible results with the Olympic star breaking a world record at the Australian short course titles in Adelaide on Thursday night.

McKeown admitted taking down time post her Paris gold medal haul had driven her bonkers, so she jumped back in the pool at the Gold Coast under new coach Janelle Pallister and at the last-minute decided she would race in Adelaide this week even though she had already been selected for the December short course world titles team.

The result was typical of McKeown’s pool heroics - a new world record in the 100m backstroke of 54.56 seconds to win by more than a second.

“I was going a bit stir crazy, sitting at home, so decided to jump back in two and a bit weeks ago, and just increasing the sessions. I don’t mean to toot my own horn but we’re doing some pretty incredible stuff at training,” she said.

The unstoppable Kaylee McKeown has broken another world record. Picture: Swimming Australia Image/David Mariuz)

“I’ll see how I feel after World Cups (in October/November) … and see if I want to do World Short Course in December … but I’m not putting any pressure on myself.”

McKeown is one of only a small handful of Paris Olympians who opted to race in Adelaide, with many including the likes of Ariarne Titmus still on an extended break.

The 23-year-old backstroke queen also has a major decision to make after her coach Michael Bohl opted to take an extended break from the sport after the Olympics.

McKeown has continued under Bohl’s assistant Pallister at the Griffith University club, herself a 1988 Olympian and mother of teammate Lani Pallister.

“Janelle’s been an absolute legend. She’s taken us on board and obviously she’s been under Bohl for a few years now, so she knows what she’s doing. Lani also produced a great swim tonight, so did a few other young swimmers,” McKeown said.

McKeown posted a blistering time of 54.56s in the 100m backstroke. Picture: Swimming Australia Image/David Mariuz

Lani Pallister, a Paris relay gold medallist, was also back in the action and won the 200m freestyle in 1:52.73 ahead of Leah Neale (1:53.60) as both qualified for the world titles in Budapest.

Pallister endured a rocky Paris Olympics, with covid forcing her to withdraw from the 1500m freestyle having earlier pulled the pin on the 400m freestyle to focus on winning selection onto the 4x200m freestyle relay team.

“My campaign in Paris wasn’t one that I expected or one that anyone else expected. I don’t think anyone really anticipates Covid and pulling out of two individual events at your first Olympics. So that was pretty tough to deal with coming home.”

Fellow Olympian Josh Yong also starred on night one in Adelaide when set an Australian record in the men’s 100m breaststroke with a time of 56.76s.

Originally published as Kaylee McKeown breaks 100m backstroke world record at Australian short course titles