Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown broke the 100m backstroke world record in her country’s Olympic Trials on Sunday.
McKeown bested American Regan Smith’s previously held record by 12 hundredths of a second, clocking a time of 57.45 seconds.
An emotional world record at the Australian Olympic Swim Trials 🇦🇺 for Kaylee McKeown!She clocks 57.45s in the women's 100m backstroke to take 0.12s off the existing mark, 10 months after the death of her father.@SwimmingAUS @AUSOlympicTeam @fina1908 https://t.co/FK4htVjMe2— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) June 13, 2021
An emotional world record at the Australian Olympic Swim Trials 🇦🇺 for Kaylee McKeown!She clocks 57.45s in the women's 100m backstroke to take 0.12s off the existing mark, 10 months after the death of her father.@SwimmingAUS @AUSOlympicTeam @fina1908 https://t.co/FK4htVjMe2
The swim was an emotional one for McKeown, who lost her father 10 months ago to brain cancer. “With COVID and the passing of my dad in August last year, it has been a huge, huge build-up to these trials,” said McKeown adding that her father’s passing served as motivation for her race.
McKeown’s record-breaking swim sets up an anticipated matchup between her and Smith at the Tokyo Olympics.