Kaylee McKeown Goes All-Time No3 With 4:28.22 Aussie 400IM Mark, Another Rice Record Boiled
Kaylee McKeown pinned her towering versatility and consistent speed to the mast with a thumping 4:28.22 Australian record in the 400m medley on day 2 at the Open on the Gold Coast, her time taking down a second Stephanie Rice standard from the shiny suits era.
McKeown, with a previous best of 4:31.74 from 2022 nationals, is now third-fastest all-time, adrift the 4:25.87 world record set by another Mc, Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh in April last year, and Hungarian Katinka Hosszu, whose 4:26.36 World record delivered one of her three golds at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Rice’s 4:29.45 was also once the World record and good for Olympic gold, at Beijing 2008, at a time when the first-gen polyurethane compression suits sparked apparel wars in the sport on the way to a ban on non-textiles from January 1, 2010.
Today, that 2008 effort was confined to domestic history, having survived a s world record until Ye Shiwen of China took it down with a controversial 4:28.43 victory at London 2012 coming home win freestyle as fast as five of the challengers in the men’s final, including champion Ryan Lochte*, of the USA.
It was the first time in history that a woman matched the finishing speed of the best men in an Olympic final. And it’s never happened since. Ye’s 58sec freestyle finish is a big outlier to this day (see comparative splits below).
McKeown, the double Tokyo202One Olympic and triple 2023 World Champion on backstroke, clocked 2:06.99 to break Rice’s 2009 record over 200IM yesterday. The 22-year-old followed that up with the following dominance:
28.57, 1:01.68 (33.11) 1:36.81 (35.13) 2:09.99 (33.18)
2:49.09 (39.10) 3:26.16 (37.07) 3:58.05 (31.89) 4:28.22 (30.17)
On any other day Ella Ramsay‘s 4:36.94 would have looked like a winner at a moment in April on the way to Olympic trials in June. Not this day, as McKeown build a 1.3sec lead on ‘fly, extended that to almost 5sec on backstroke, held the fort on breaststroke and then rocketed into a league apart on freestyle as she chased down Rice’s almost-16-year-old high bar.
McKeown Muscles In On The All-Time Rankings
All-time Top 5 including shiny suits:
4:25.87 – Summer McIntosh (CAN) 2023
4:26.36 – Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 2016
4:28.22 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS) 2024
4:28.43 – Ye Shiwen (CHN) 2012
4:29.45 – Stephanie Rice (AUS) 2008
All-time top 5 in textile
4:25.87 – Summer McIntosh (CAN) 2023
4:26.36 – Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 2016
4:28.22 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS) 2024
4:28.43 – Ye Shiwen (CHN) 2012
4:30.82 – Yui Ohashi (JPN) 2018
Splits compared:
59.47 (31.65) 2:06.39 (1:06.92) 3:25.31 (1:18.92) 4:25.87 (1:00.56) McIntosh Toronto 2023
1:00.91; 2:08.39 (1:07.48) 3:24.50 (1:16.11) 4:26.36 (1:01.86) Hosszu WR Rio 2016 gold
1:01.68; 2:09.99 (1:08.31) 3:26.16 (1:17.85) 4:28.22 (1:02.06) McKeown Gold Coast 2024
1:02.19; 2:11.73 (1:09.54) 3:29.75 (1:18.02 ) 4:28.43 (58.68) Shiwen WR London 2012 Gold
O’Callaghan Tests 58 Barrier In 100 Back – 7th All-Time
In McKeown’s absence, Mollie O’Callaghan, the pioneering World 100-200m free champion last year, clocked 58.09. That boosted her from 13th to 7th on the all-time rankings 0.01sec shy of the European recored heel by Britain’s Kathleen Dawson and making it six entries for Commonwealth swimmers in the all-time top 10 in the event.
Out in 28.60 and home in 29.49, almost as fast as the opening lengths of her closest rivals in the race, O’Callaghan wiped out her previous best of 58.42 from World-title trials in June last year. Iona Anderson, 18, was closest, on 59.53, third place to Hannah Fredericks in 59.69.
O’Callaghan then dashed off to race in the 50m free final, for a fifth-place 24.81 (after 24.74 in heats) a day after a triumphant 52.27 in the 100m free.
The dash delivering a snap for gold, Meg Harris and Shayna Jack** both on 24.28 after Jack went 24.21 in heats. Third home was Olympic champion Emma McKeon, in 24.46, with Cate Campbell next in 24.79 and 24.59 in heats.
Six Men On 1:46 In 200 Free
Flynn Southam, the 18-year-old based at Bond, had the edge on 1:46.11, but the next five men came home within 0.73sec of him, in the following order: Elijah Winnington,
1:46.56; Thomas Neill, 1:46.60; Kai Taylor, 1:46.65 (a day after a 1:45 lead-off in his club 4x200m relay); Max Giuliani, 1:46.70; and Korea’s Kim Woomin, 1:46.83.
Olympic 200m breaststroke champion Zac Stubblety-Cook also kept the visitors at bay, overhauling Ippei Watanabe, of Japan, to take his signature event in 2:07.50 to 2:07.62, after having lagged 1:02.31 to 1:01.30 at half-way. Third home was Josh Yong in 2:08.54.
In the women’s 200m butterfly, Elizabeth Dekkers took down her own all-comers record by 0.06sec with a 2:05.20 victory ahead of Brianna Throssell, on 2:06.98, third to Abbey Connor in 2:07.20, with two others inside 2:10.
The session came top a close with wins for Lewis Blackburn, on 25.03 in the 50m backstroke, Jenna Strauch, on 1:07.37 in the 100m breaststroke, and Sam Short, on 15:03.25 in the 1500m freestyle.
- – * – swimmer fell foul of anti-doping rules and served a 14-month suspension.
- – ** – swimmer tested positive for a banned substance and served a two-year suspension