Emma McKeon earns a place among her heroes

Emma McKeon’s gloriously understated march towards an unparalleled swimming career is continuing at the Commonwealth Games. She’s spending so much time on the podium in Birmingham that she could pitch a tent and camp out.

Emma McKeon has cemented her place among Australia’s greatest athletes after more gold in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Picture: AP

Emma McKeon’s gloriously understated march towards an unparalleled swimming career is continuing at the Commonwealth Games. She’s spending so much time on the podium in Birmingham that she could pitch a tent and camp out.

Her past and present personal relationships are getting an awkward amount of oxygen and she’s more affected by the attention than she’s letting on. But to her credit, she’s steadfastly doing what she came to the Sandwell Aquatics Centre to do. Swim and win. No small amount of professionalism and intestinal fortitude is on display. When it comes to breaking records, she’s like a broken record.

A freestyle queen who is also a pretty handy butterflyer, McKeon is now regularly mentioned in the same conversations as Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe, Shane Gould, Murray Rose, Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett.

Her seven medals in Tokyo in 2021 made her Australia’s most successful Olympian. It must be a heavy weight to bear when she hangs all her Olympic medals around her neck – five gold, two silver and four bronze. Only Thorpe can match the five gold.

Emma McKeon in the women’s 100m butterfly final. Picture: Getty Images

In Birmingham, McKeon seamlessly anchored Australia’s 4x100m freestyle relay to a sizzling win by nearly six seconds on Sunday. Her tenth Games gold medal equalled the record hauls of Thorpe, Susie O’Neill and Leisel Jones but McKeon had more to come in a gruelling seven-event program.

“It’s special,” McKeon said of drawing level with Thorpe and co. “They’re people that I looked up to growing up. The Commonwealth Games has so much history in Australia. They’re the ones that inspired me and a lot of the other girls and guys on the team to do what we’re doing now. To be a part of that history, hopefully for the future generations coming through, it’s pretty special. I know what I felt like growing up watching those people and hopefully I can inspire people as well.”

Emma McKeon on the podium collecting her silver medal for the women’s 100m butterfly final. Picture: Michael Klein

Australia is off to a flyer at the Games. Jess Stenson’s victory in the marathon and her constant mouthing of the words “thank you” to a rapturous crowd were as wonderful as sport can get. “Just feeling really content,” she said.

Equally as emotional was the gold medal in the S13 50m freestyle to visually impaired swimmer Katja Dedekind, who didn’t know she’d set a world record because she couldn’t see the scoreboard. “Oh my god!,” she said when she was told. “Holy moly! That’s icing on the cake.”

Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario won the para-marathon in the T53/54 category in one hour and 56 minutes of hard yakka. An unusually hilly marathon course was brutal for those in racing chairs. “One of the hardest marathons I have done in my life,” she said. “The most brutal part of it was the last five k, which is the cruellest way to have to end the marathon. Definitely a tough race and I’m definitely feeling it.

McKeon had two relay gold medals from the opening two nights of swimming finals, plus a meritorious silver medal in the 100m butterfly behind Canada’s Olympic champion, Maggie MacNeil. Her pet events, the 50m and 100m freestyle, were still to come. Australia won a whopping 13 gold medals and 32 overall in the first 48 hours of competition to take a huge lead on the medal tally.

Kyle Chalmers swimming his leg of the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Picture: AFP

McKeon’s keeping her eyes on the prize despite the potential distraction of her private life becoming public. She was dating Dolphins teammate Kyle Chalmers last year. Now she’s seeing another Australian swimmer, Cody Simpson. Chalmers is angry about the way he’s being portrayed.

Flynn Southam celebrates as a member of the gold medal-winning men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team. Picture: Getty Images

Ex-pop star Simpson says everything’s cool and McKeon says it’s none of anyone’s business. “I just focus on what I have to do,” she said. “I’m here to race. That’s just all I focus on. I’ve got a huge program here, my mind is on the job and I’m good at doing that.”

McKeon and Chalmers teamed up to win the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night. They’ll be in cahoots again in the mixed medley relay this week. Chalmers appeared to give McKeon the cold shoulder before and after their win, but she said: “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. He did (shake hands). We always put a good team together and mixed relays are always fun to do. It’s good to be a part of it again and I’m looking forward to hopefully the medley mixed relay as well.”

And she’s looking forward to more than that as well – McKeon has made it clear she is not contemplating retirement and has her eyes firmly on the prize of more Olympic glory in Paris in 2024.

“I haven’t raced in a long time, it’s getting back into the swing of it and I’m treating it as the first stepping stone back again on the way to Paris,” she said.

It seems inconceivable McKeon will not finish this meet as our most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete. If she keeps it up through to 2024, any doubt will be removed – she will become Australia’s greatest Olympian.