Swimming championships 2017: Emma McKeon qualifies for six world events

Australia’s most decorated athlete of the Rio Olympics is lining up a six-event program at this year’s world championships.

Australia’s most decorated athlete of the Rio Olympics, Emma McKeon, is lining up a six-event program at this year’s world championships after leading qualifying in the 200m freestyle at the national trials in Brisbane this morning.

McKeon, wo won four medals in Rio, has already qualified in the 100m freestyle (second) and 100m butterfly (first) this week and has now turned her attention to her pet event, the 200m freestyle. She will also swim three relays in Budapest.

The Olympic bronze medallist and triple national champion was a class apart in this morning’s heats as she clocked her fastest 200m since the Olympics, 1min57.99sec.

“I’m really enjoying my swimming and racing at the moment,’’ she said.

“My training has been going well and I think I’ve probably done less bad sessions in this prep than I did in the last prep (for the Olympics),’’ she said.

“I’m just getting more consistent in my training. Even if I’m not doing PBs at the moment I know that there’s good stuff to come

“I want to get the best out of myself tonight. I’m trying to focus on keeping my legs light because that’s usually the first place I die. It’s a hard balance between keeping my legs light and not going out too slow so I’m still trying to find that balance.’’

Emma McKeon has qualified to compete in six events at the 2017 World Swimming Championships in Budapest.

In an event where there is an opening on the national team after the retirement of triple Olympian Bronte Barratt last year, the contenders are gathering.

Mikkayla Sheridan was second to qualify (1:59.01) ahead of Rio Olympians Kotuku Ngawati (1:59.06) and Madison Wilson (1:59.09).

New national 800m champion, 16-year-old Ariarne Titmus (1:59.40) will also have a lane tonight.

In a rare appearance in this event, 100m freestyle world record-holder Cate Campbell qualified for the final (2:00.01), but she later withdrew as she is not nominating for the national team this year.

World champion Mitch Larkin cruised through as the fastest qualifier in the 100m backstroke today and said he would be looking to find his rhythm in tonight’s final after struggling to victory in the 200m.

“I need to find my groove,’’ he said.

“I knew straight away that I didn’t find my groove in the first 50m of the 200 and I was just fighting it the whole way, so this morning was just about finding that groove.

“I felt good and found it pretty comfortable. Tonight is all about keeping the length (in his stroke) with speed and that’s the big challenge. If I can do that it should be a good swim.’’

He said he would take inspiration from his girlfriend and fellow world champion Emily Seebohm, who swam her fastest 100m backstroke since 2015 last night.

Seebohm was the fastest qualifier in the 50m backstroke this morning (28.07sec) ahead of new Australian team member Holly Barratt (28.22sec), who returned in the next event to top the charts in the 50m butterfly heats (26.90).

In other events, teenager Matt Wilson returned from qualifying in the 200m breaststroke last night to set the pace in the 100m heats in 1:00.88.

Travis Mahoney was the top qualifier in the 200m individual medley (2:02.04), ahead of world junior champion Clyde Lewis (2:02.31).