Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith Gearing Toward Blistering Backstroke Showdowns

Kaylee McKeown & Regan Smith -- Photos Courtesy: Delly Carr & Peter H. Bick

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Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith Gearing Toward Blistering Backstroke Showdowns

The swimming fortunes of Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith have been tied together ever since they made their World Championships debut one heat apart at the 2017 World Championships. Smith was 15 at the time, McKeown weeks past her 16th birthday. That day, Smith lowered the 200 backstroke world junior record in the semifinals, but the next day, McKeown snatched away that WJR in her fourth-place finish.

Two years later, Smith shocked the world by lowering Missy Franklin’s world record in the event with a time of 2:03.35 in the semifinals. As Smith secured gold by two-and-a-half seconds the next day, McKeown got ahead of the rest of the field to secure silver, her first individual medal at a major meet.

That race, now almost four years ago, was the last time McKeown and Smith raced head-to-head in the four-lap backstroke race. In fact, there has only been one individual race featuring both backstroke stars since, the 100 back final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Smith left the 2019 Worlds with both backstroke world records (including a 57.57 relay leadoff in the 100 back), but she lost momentum and confidence during one-year COVID-19-induced delay of the Olympics. At the same time, McKeown took a huge step forward, and by the time they reached Tokyo, McKeown owned the world record in the 100 back (57.45) while Smith missed qualifying for the U.S. team in the 200 back, falling to third behind Rhyan White and Phoebe Bacon at Olympic Trials, her final time more than three seconds shy of her world record.

In Tokyo, McKeown completed the backstroke double while Smith ended up with bronze behind McKeown and Kylie Masse in a much-anticipated 100 back final. The next year, Smith again missed qualifying for the U.S. team in the 200 back (despite swimming much closer to her best time), but she returned to the top of the podium with gold in the 100 back at the Budapest World Championships. But McKeown was absent from that event, having chosen to focus on the 200 IM instead. The Aussie ended up with 200 back gold, albeit in a much-closer-than-expected finish over Bacon, and she took silver in the 200 IM plus a pair of medley relay silvers.

Neither swimmer performed their best last summer, but the early results from this season foreshadow some brilliant women’s backstroking this July, with both swimmers tracking toward career-best performances.

Regan Smith — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

A few months after the World Championships, Smith made the decision to end her college career after just one season and turn professional. She relocated her training to Arizona State University and coach Bob Bowman, expressing a desire for the high-volume training that had propelled her to teenage stardom.

The move immediately paid dividends: at the U.S. Open, her first meet since moving to Arizona, she clocked 2:05.28 in the 200 back, her fastest swim since 2019. Her four other wins at the U.S. Open included a 2:10.40 200 IM, crushing her best time by almost three seconds in one day. Smith carried that momentum into the spring, and at the past two Pro Swim Series meets, she has been brilliant.

Most recently in Westmont, Ill., Smith clocked 57.92 in the 100 back on the back end of a double (that also included the 200 butterfly), and she concluded the meet with a 2:04.76 200 back, a time that only McKeown, Smith and Franklin have ever surpassed. For Smith, it was (again) her fastest time since 2019 — and for what it’s worth, almost two seconds quicker than her quickest in-season time leading up to her world record.

Given those swims, Smith would be the huge favorite for two backstroke world titles this summer in Fukuoka, Japan — except that McKeown has been even better.

McKeown has made a habit of swimming exceptionally quick times in-season, and her 57.90 100 back from the Australian Championships last month would certainly fit that mold. But in the 200 back, McKeown has already broken the world record this year. At the New South Wales State Championships in early March, McKeown used her stunning finishing speed to record a mark of 2:03.14, two tenths quicker than Smith’s 2019 mark.

Kaylee Mckeown of Australia celebrates after winning the gold medal in the 200m Backstroke Women Final during the FINA Swimming Short Course World Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Australia, December 18th, 2022. Photo Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Kaylee McKeown — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

McKeown was already Olympic and world champion in the event, but this swim marked her best time by more than a second and almost two seconds faster than the 2:05.08 in which she won last year’s world title. And the speed carried over into other events: at the Australian Championships, McKeown clocked 2:08.16 in the 200 IM (faster than her bronze-medal-winning time from last year’s Worlds), 1:56.88 in the 200 freestyle and an especially stunning 2:24.18 200 breaststroke, good enough for a win.

To recap: Smith is swimming the best in-season times of her career, and McKeown has already broken world record this year. Both have taken note of their cross-world rival’s impressive performances but have not been daunted.

Now, thanks to these two titans, both 21 years old (McKeown’s 22nd birthday is July 12), the women’s 100 and 200 backstroke will be among the most anticipated races in Fukuoka this July. Both have medal chances in non-backstroke events (McKeown in the 200 IM, Smith in the 200 fly), so they could be among the top performers of the meet. With both on track to be at their best, it could legitimately take times of 57-low or 2:02 to win gold.

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