Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown switches coaches in lead up to LA Games

Kaylee McKeown has made the decision to switch coaches ending her short stint with the famed British coach who helped champion breaststroker Adam Peaty to glory.

Australian swimming superstar Kaylee McKeown has made a major change to her preparations for the Los Angeles Olympics by ending her short stint with famed British coach Mel Marshall to return to the Sunshine Coast.

McKeown dropped the news on the last day of the Australian championships in Brisbane after withdrawing from the heats of the 200m backstroke after winning the 100m and 50m events.

In a posting on her Instagram account, McKeown confirmed the switch, saying: “I’d like to thank everyone from (Griffith Uni Swim Club) over the past 3yrs, it has truely (sic) been everything and more. It’s been a crazy week but I’ve decided to head back home to where it all started on the Sunshine Coast with (USC Spartans).”

While it is not uncommon for elite swimmers to change coaches even at the height of their careers, and a number of other Aussies have done the same since last year’s Paris Olympics, McKeown’s decision is still big news because of her high standing in the sport.

She had previously been coached by Chris Mooney at the Sunshine Coast, winning three gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but left to join Michael Bohl at Griffith University for the three-year build-up to the Paris Olympics, where she successfully defended her 100m and 200m backstroke titles.

McKeown gives her women’s 200 metre backstroke gold medal her medal to Bohl at the Paris Olympics. Picture: Adam Head

Bohl has since left Griffith, and defected to China where he will coach against the Aussies in LA, with Marshall recruited by Swimming Australia as his high-profile replacement.

Marshall is regarded as one of the world’s best swim coaches, having overseen the spectacular career of English breaststroker Adam Peaty, but it’s understood McKeown was considering a change of clubs after Bohl left and she separated from her boyfriend Brendon Smith.

Marshall in Edinburgh during 2018. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

McKeown during the 2025 Australian Open Swimming Championships. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

While McKeown is believed to have given thought to joining her close friend Mollie O’Callaghan at Dean Boxall’s St Peters Western club, the lure of returning to the Sunshine Coast proved too strong.

McKeown’s sister Taylor, also an Olympic medallist, lives at the Sunshine Coast and welcomed her younger sibling back, replying to her social media posting: ”Oh great. I guess this means I’ll be seeing you more”.

Kaylee and Taylor McKeown with mum Sharon McKeown, in February. Picture: Steve Pohlner

McKeown is also close mates with Alexandria Perkins, who trains at the USC Spartans Club, where Michael Sage is the new head coach, having replaced Michael Palfrey, who was sacked for coaching a South Korean rival at the Paris Olympics.

O’Callaghan, meanwhile, considered pulling out of Thursday’s 200m freestyle final – one of the events she won the gold in at Paris – because of a painful knee injury.

But she swam through the agony and won the final in 1:55.71 ahead of Lani Pallister, her teammate in the 4x200m relay that won Olympic gold in the French capital.

O'Callaghan swam through agony to win the 200m Freestyle Final. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“It’s been a rough week, first time competing this year,” O’Callaghan told the Nine Network.

“To be honest, I was thinking about pulling out. I have a bit of a bad knee. Throughout the week, it was just progressively getting worse and I’m kind of hanging on.

“But I’m really glad I held myself together. I had a bit of a pep talk from Dean. I wasn’t too stoked about it, but to come back and actually race, I’m pretty proud of myself.”

Paralympian Alexa Leary won the 50m freestyle final in 27.66 to complete the sprint double after breaking her own world record for the 100m in the S9 category.

“This wasn’t a bad swim, it’s just my record is still the one,” Leary said.

“I was feeling really good, actually. I was really confident on this one as well, and I did well. I did well for myself. I was like, well done Lex.”

Originally published as Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown switches coaches in lead up to LA Games