World Championships, Day Two Semifinals: Olympic Champion Kaylee McKeown Aiming To Turn Tears Into Cheers in the Women’s 100m Backstroke

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LAUNCHPAD: Kaylee McKeown will be chasing her first world championship gold in the women's 100m backstroke. Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

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World Championships, Day Two Semifinals: Olympic Champion Kaylee McKeown Aiming To Turn Tears Into Cheers in the Women’s 100m Backstroke

Australia’s Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown will launch herself into the 100m backstroke final determined to turn last night’s tears into tomorrow night’s cheers at the Marine Messe Fukuoka.

The world-record holder, sensationally disqualified in last night’s 200m individual medley semi-final, has qualified safely through to the final of the event she won at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

McKeown won her semi-final in 58.48 to qualify second fastest behind her U.S. rival and championship-record holder Regan Smith, who won the second semi-final in 58.33 from American teammate Katharine Berkoff (58.60) to head the qualifiers. Kylie Masse, a one-time world-record holder in the event along with Smith and (now) McKeown, qualified fourth in 59.06.

Smith was the winner of this race in 2021 when McKeown scratched to focus on other events. Both have been impressive so far in 2023, with McKeown clocking a time of 57.50 at the Australian Trials to finish only five hundredths outside her world record. Smith was just a few tenths behind with a 57.71 at U.S. Nationals, a meet where Berkoff moved into the top-five performers ever in the event with her mark of 58.01.

When Smith and McKeown face off Tuesday evening, expect Smith to have the most early speed, with a 27-second outgoing split a high probability, and we’ll see if McKeown can close the gap down the stretch.

Thirteen swimmers broke 1:00 in the semifinal round, and Great Britain’s Medi Harris earned the last spot in the final at 59.62, one hundredth ahead of Madison Wilson, McKeown’s Australian teammate, who touched in 59.63.

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It could well be a clash of the backstroke titans – with the 2020 Tokyo Olympic medal podium of McKeown, silver medallist Kyle Masse (CAN) and US bronze medallist Smith alongside Berkoff, the daughter of US backstroking legend – Dave Berkoff – the four-time Olympic medallist, who won silver in this event in Seoul in 1988.

McKeown will go into her second 100m backstroke world championship final, fuelled by that disqualification which cost her the opportunity of competing for a medal in tonight’s women’s 200m individual medley final.

McKeown and fuming Australian officials labelled her disqualification as unjust after judges ruled a stroke violation in her transition from backstroke to breaststroke in a semi-final on Sunday night.

“I had a bit of a cry,” McKeown said today. “A bit of an emotional rollercoaster but it’s sport and it’s what happens in sport. Unfortunately some people just get the bad hand and I got dealt that bad hand.

McKeown said her medley disappointment added to her motivation for the 100m backstroke final.

When tomorrow night’s race comes down to the wire expect McKeown and Smith to turn the final into a classic USA v Australia duel – the defending world champion and former world record holder Smith up against the Olympic and World Short Course Champion and current world record holder McKeown.

Along with two-time world champion Masse, the pair have been the two dominant forces – McKeown clocking the three fastest times in history amongst her nine swims inside the top 25 times of all-time, Smith who owns 12 of those 25 times and Masse – the world champion in 2017 and 2019 who won silver in 2022- with three.

McKeown, who did not contest the 100m backstroke last year to concentrate on the 200IM, has only appeared in one world championship long course 100m backstroke final – finishing fifth to Masse in Gwangju in 2019 – the year Smith couldn’t make the US team individually but set the world record in the gold medal winning US medley relay.

There was disappointment for McKeown’s Australian team mate, World and Olympic relay gold medallist, Wilson who won silver in this event in 2015 in Kazan to Emily Seebohm, finished an agonising ninth, missing the final by 0.10 to British 20-year-old Harris – nine years her junior – Wilson, at 29, the second oldest swimmer in the semi-finals to Kira Toussaint (NED), the former short course WR holder and Rio Olympian, who is a week older.

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