Swim of the Week: McKeown’s Statement World Record In 100 Back

Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

It’s not easy to steal the spotlight in what is arguably the busiest two weeks of swimming this year. But Australia’s Kaylee McKeown did just that with a world record 100 back at Australian Olympic Trials.

With Australian Trials, U.S. Olympic Trials, and French Olympic Trials in full swing, and Canadian Olympic Trials just about to kick off, McKeown emerged from the deluge of swimming news with the sport’s biggest headline: a 57.45 win at Aussie Trials.

The 19-year-old McKeown had been all over the world record in the past year. In late 2020, McKeown went 58.11, then the #4 time in history in the event. Just a month later, she crushed a 57.93 for the #2 swim of all-time.

Since then, the all-time performances list has grown crowded with top-notch 2021 swims. But McKeown continued to rise to the top with a 57.63 in May. And finally, this week, McKeown took a tenth of a second off of Regan Smith‘s 2019 world record and setting up a dramatic showdown with Smith at this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games.

Top Performances All-Time: Women’s 100 Back LCM

1. Kaylee McKeown (6/13/2021) – 57.45
2. Regan Smith (7/28/2019) – 57.57
3. Kaylee McKeown (5/15/2021) – 57.63
4. Regan Smith (6/14/2021) – 57.92
5. Kaylee McKeown (12/12/2020) – 57.93
6. Kathleen Baker (7/28/2018) – 58.00
7. Kathleen Dawson (5/23/2021) – 58.08
8. Kylie Masse (7/25/2017) – 58.10
9. Kaylee McKeown (11/13/2020) – 58.11
10. Gemma Spofforth (7/28/2009) – 58.12