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Kaylee McKeown

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Olympics News: Aussie Dolphins Swim Team finished 2nd in the swimming medal tally behind USA by only one gold medal with back-to-back silver on the final night

by Sports Benches

Yes, Team USA may have officially been crowned as the Olympic swimming champions at Paris 2024 while we were so close by a gap of one gold medal behind in 2nd at a total of 7. But so proud of our Aussie Dolphins swimmers though who put us on the map over these first eight days including two silver on the 9th & final night. Gotta say Meg Harris was so close in the Women’s 50m Freestyle Final behind Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom while Mollie O’Callaghan rescued the Aussies yet again when she anchored the Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Final for freestyle from 4th to 2nd in the last swimming race of Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena.

We start with our best freestyle specialist Mollie O’Callaghan whose finishing ability was world-class that can wow everyone out of nowhere as we’ve seen in the 200m Freestyle Final including several other team relay races that won her a few gold medals plus the final night Women’s 4 x 100 medley relay silver in her first Olympics campaign. 

So does our Queen of Backstroke Kaylee McKeown who successfully defended the 100 and 200m Final races of her specialist discipline while she wasn’t bad when it comes to both team relays as well as medley & individual medley races.

We also can’t forget our best middle distance swimmer Ariarne Titmus when she made us proud on the first day after she defended the 400m Freestyle Final from Tokyo 2020, and last but not least Cameron McEvoy – who defied all odds with his breakthrough 50m Freestyle sprint Final performance – that won finally him an Olympic Gold Medal on top of his World Championship win at the ripe age of 30.

Plus, we can give shoutouts to so many more like Meg Harris where she’s not just an excellent team player but also did really well in the 50m Freestyle sprint earlier this AM in 2nd. And last but not least, Emma McKeon & Shayna Jack whom they are also excellent team players that won them Olympic team relay gold medals. Jack has came back from a long way while things won’t be the same without McKeon after her decorated career.

Where to now for our Aussie Dolphins Swim Team? Their message to Team USA is well played but our battles ain’t over when we can go dominate the World Championships once again next year and 2027, as well as the long-awaited 2026 Pan Pacs and the next Olympics on their home turf come 2028 in Los Angeles.

For now, merci & au revoir Paris as the our Aussie Dolphins are on their way back home.

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Olympics Swimming News: Aussie Dolphins Swim Team still in for a fantastic finish going into the ninth & final day tomorrow morning with one silver & two bronze medals on Day 8

by Sports Benches

Okay, the Aussie Dolphins Swim Team might not have got away with any gold at all on Day 8 – which wasn’t what we wanted thanks to arch-rivals Team USA. Instead, they only won one silver thanks to Ariarne Titmus in the Women’s 800m Freestyle Final behind Katie Ledecky & two bronze, with Kaylee McKeown unexpectedly following Alex Walsh’s DQ in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley Final, as well as a team effort in the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final.

However, we’re still just holding on the Olympics Swimming Medal Tally that tight by one gold medal totalling 7 so far ahead of Team USA going into the ninth and final day’s program tomorrow morning our time.

Oh so close from Arnie who wasn’t far off Katie’s radar all along but not quite enough to close her down on time unfortunately on time. But she did her personal best nonetheless against someone that is already and still an U.S. Olympic swimming legend in none other than now 4 x Women’s 800m Freestyle Olympic Games champion Katie Ledecky. 

Congratulations to Katie as she’s simply unstoppable since the age of 15 that goes way back to London 2012 – that’s all. Looks like she will want to keep on going maybe at least one more towards achieving a homecoming feat when the next Summer Games will be in LA 2028.

For McKeown, she might not have the best race once again this time in the women’s 200m IM Final. She’s happy to accept bronze though when Team USA’s Alex Walsh was disqualified on what has been a huge week for her in Paris thanks to her two gold medals through her specialist backstroke discipline this week including the Women’s 200m Final win yesterday.

But wait, McKeown isn’t done just yet when she later went back into the pool to start off just the backstroke part for the 4 x 100m Mixed Medley Final. It wasn’t the easiest of starts to say off the back of a long night once again while nothing much came from Joshua Yong during the breaststroke stint, but Matthew Temple was not bad though for the butterfly leg despite an underwhelming run earlier on in his specialist Men’s 100m final race earlier this morning before Mollie O’Callaghan freestyled her way home to a team bronze.

Now the ninth and final day’s swimming session will only be Finals same time tomorrow morning with 2-3 gold medals up for grabs since the heats were done the other day. We got Shayna Jack onboard alongside Meg Harris in the women’s 50m Freestyle Final as hoping that the best is yet to come from Jack for gold. 

Plus, we might be in for a 50/50 chance in the Men’s 4 x 100 Medley Relay Final but sure our women are 100% confident on getting the job done for their own 4 x 100m Medley race. After that, the Olympics swimming program would be finished by then with Australia hoping to def. Team USA for the overall Swimming honours once again – this time at Olympic Games level following their World Champs triumph in Fukuoka, Japan just a little over last year.

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Olympics Swimming News: Cam McEvoy finally won his first gold at age 30 while Kaylee McKeown defended another gold in the 200m back on Night 7 of 9 for Australia

by Sports Benches

The Aussie Dolphins Swim Team are well clear going into this weekend before the Olympics swimming program is done, having collected two gold medals on Day 7 at a total of 7 right now, which they’re now three gold medals ahead of Team USA in 2nd on this swimming medal tally.

First of all, “Big Boy” Cameron McEvoy finally won an Olympics gold on his fourth campaign out in the Men’s 50m Freestyle Final at age 30 while Kaylee McKeown is the No.1 backstroking Queen after she defended her 200m Final race on top of her 100m Final race from the other day.

What a moment from McEvoy when he was neck-and-neck with everyone all along before he was really the first one to touch the wall at a time of 21.25 – just 0.05 tenths of a second between the difference that consigned Team GB’s Ben Proud into second for the silver medal. He never gave up as he too has finally became an Olympic champion after also being the first time World Champion last year in Fukuoka, Japan – go you good thing!

And on Kaylee, she’s the superstar we have got in our backstroking arsenal after she defended her 100 and 200m Olympic gold medal titles. The only other person who has done it last time around was West Germany’s (now Germany) Roland Mattes back in 1968 and 1972. Okay, she fired off not bad where the start could’ve been hers to get ahead so Kaylee can try and break another world record there. But at least she saved her energy till the end while keeping in check with her competitors and yet she’s done well to lock them out en route to another Olympics gold towards the end of the wall.

Now Day 8 tomorrow morning is going to be huge with 3-4 gold medal shots that will hopefully see our Aussies one step closer to safeguarding this Olympics Swimming medal tally in Paris 2024.

Kaylee will be back this time in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley; Yes, she wasn’t the best in her semis race but sure she’ll come back recharged to try and win another gold. So does Ariarne Titmus and Lani Pallister in the women’s 800m Freestyle Final – no doubt Arnie will look to stop Team USA’s Katie Ledecky once again. Don’t forget the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final that could mean bonus points for the Dolphins going into the ninth & final day & Matt Temple as the lone Aussie in the Men’s 100m Butterfly.

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Olympics Swimming News Day 6: Aussie Dolphins Swim Team collect the one gold having fend off Team USA & China in the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final

by Sports Benches

So happy to see our Aussie Dolphins Swim Team collect the one gold thanks to an excellent team relay effort in the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Final. Love seeing Mollie O’Callaghan fire off comfortably into first while the returning Lani Pallister and Brianna Throsell held onto top spot along the way before Ariarne Titmus staved off a huge threat from Team USA & China en route towards an Aussie team gold. It might not be world record which was close but at least they did so well to keep their good lead intact, with Arnie unpacking the outstanding fire she really needs like to bring it home like her team-mate Mollie O.

Looking at the swimming Olympics medal tally now, we’re still first by one gold at a total of five so far ahead of Team USA with three days to go. Shoutout also to Liz Dekkers, who might have been languishing through the mid-pack for the most part off the back of a poor start, but the way she finished off the race wasn’t bad though where she moved her way up to 4th place towards the end in the Women’s 200m Butterfly Final. Sure there’s more to come from the 20-year-old to hopefully chase gold someday at future World Championships that can really translate into an Olympics gold come 2028 in Los Angeles, USA.

Now what have we got in stall to stop Team USA from winning this swimming medal tally tomorrow? We got Kaylee McKeown in the Women’s 200m butterfly Final as well as Cameron McEvoy in the Men’s 50m sprint after being the equal fastest alongside Team GB’s Ben Proud during his semi-final 2 meet earlier this morning. So two gold medals up for grabs as sure the Aussie Dolphins Swim Team can hang in there with McEvoy & our Queen of Backstroke in McKeown going into this weekend. 

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2024 Paris Olympic Swimming Day 4 Recap: MCKEOWN PULLS OFF A STUNNING REPEAT PERFORAMANCE, SHATTERING HER OWN OLYMPIC RECORD AT 100M BACKSTROKE!

by Admin

Kudos to our incredible Dolphins – your dedication and spirit shone brightly in Paris day by day!

On the fourth day of competition, 13 Dolphins fought to secure a place in the upcoming finals. The Men’s 200m Butterfly kicked off the day, but Aussie Matt Temple’s time of 1:57.72 wasn’t enough to get him into the semi-finals.

Both the Men’s and Women’s 100m Freestyle events saw Kyle Chalmers (48.07s), William Yang (48.46s), Mollie O’Callaghan (53.27), and Shayna Jack (53.40) qualify for the night sessions.

A Covid-19 diagnosis led to Lani Pallister pulling out of the Women’s 1500m freestyle event, with hopes that this will protect her health so she can compete in the Women’s 4x200m relay on Day 5.

Despite this setback, Moesha Johnson, another Dolphin, advanced to the final of the 1500m event, where she will go up against American star Katie Ledecky on Thursday morning.

Zac Stubblety-Cook’s impressive final 50m push in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke helped him secure a spot in the semi-finals as the second seed, with a time of 2:09.49.

The morning session concluded with the Australian 4x200m Freestyle Relay team, consisting of Zac Incerti, Kai Taylor, Flynn Southam, and Thomas Neill. The team qualified in fourth place (7:05.63), while defending champions Great Britain posted the fastest qualifying time of 7:05.11.

The fourth night at the Paris’ La Défense Arena began with King Kyle’s determination to regain his title in the 100m freestyle event. In the Men’s 100m Freestyle semi-final, Australian newcomer Will Yang competed alongside Chalmers, who made a stunning comeback to win with the second fastest time of 47.58s after starting in fourth place. However, Yang missed out on a spot in the final, finishing 15th overall with a time of 48.42.

The highlight of the night was when our backstroke expert Kaylee McKeown, claimed victory in the Women’s 100m Backstroke Final.

McKeown was in a close race with American swimmers Regan Smith and Katherine Berkoff, but she pulled ahead in the last 25m to defend her Olympic title, setting a new Olympic Record with a winning time of 57.33s. In the Backstroke final, up-and-coming swimmer Dolphin, Iona Anderson, put in a remarkable effort and came in 5th place.

Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan, who have already won Olympic gold in 2024, qualified for the Women’s 100m freestyle final by finishing 2nd (52.72s) and 3rd (52.75) in the semifinals, just behind Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (52.64s).

The Men’s 200m Breaststroke Semi-Final came next, where Zac Stubblety-Cook and Joshua Yong both secured spots in the final. In the evening, Elijah Winnington took an initial lead in the Men’s 800m Final, but was quickly overtaken in the second half of the race by Irish swimmer Daniel Wiffen, who secured his nation’s first gold medal in the pool. Winnington ended up in eighth place, clocking a time of 7:48.36.

Following that, the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay event began. The youthful Australian squad secured the fourth position in the qualifications before the final.

Yet, it was Elijah Winnington who, in the third leg, consolidated the Australian team’s standing in 3rd place behind the USA and Great Britain, following his 800m final swim. Thomas Neill, the anchor of the Australian team, closely followed American Kieran Smith and won the first Bronze Medal for Australia in the games.

The Dolphins Olympic journey is only beginning, be sure to catch Day 5 as more of our Dolphins aim for the top prize!

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2024 Australian Olympic Swimming Trials Day 4: Kaylee McKeown & Ariarne Titmus at their best in respective disciplines alongside Kyle Chalmers as well as qualifying first moments

by Sports Benches

Last night might not be as spectacular as Monday and Wednesday but there’s some really good swims though to watch during the fourth night of the 2024 Australian Olympic Swimming Trials at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre. 

As we all know, Kaylee McKeown is always best in her backstroke discipline with the Women’s 200m Backstroke Final – despite being 00.15 off her current world record time. Shoutout to 17-year-old Jaclyn Barclay who finished 2nd having done so once before earlier this year during the World Championships in Doha, which was enough for to book her berth to Paris. So two brilliant backstroke swimmers (one seasoned champ & one emerging) we’ve got in the books that will see them challenge and push each other for the best of our Dolphins Swim team like Ariarne Titmus & Mollie O’Callaghan in the freestyle races.

Speaking of Arnie, she was too good in the 800m Freestyle after she had to deactivate instagram for the race and then reactivate it after that. Looks like she wants to do more in order to walk away with record-breaking achievements like winning both the gold and the new world record time that is gonna send a message to both Mollie O’Callaghan and other elite International competitors out there come Paris beginning at the end of next month. Plus, we saw Kyle Chalmers still being the king when he was a really quick finisher in the 100m Men’s freestyle Final dash. And we saw Liz Dekkers at last punched her ticket following her heartbreak a few years ago for Tokyo as she will now compete in her first Olympics with her specialist butterfly discipline after he finished 1st in the Women’s 200m Butterfly Final ahead of fellow qualifier Abbey Connor in 2nd.

Four days done, two more days to go featuring another Mollie in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Final sprint later tonight.

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2024 Australian Olympic Swimming Trials Day 2: Superior competition up front across several races including another near world record attempt in Brisbane

by Sports Benches

We had another spectacular night of competition for spots, near world record moments and breakthrough Olympic qualifications for those who punched their ticket to swim in Paris. Like Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown almost broke the new world record in the Women’s 100m backstroke even though she already won that race. Not only that Mollie O’Callaghan and 17-year-old Iona Anderson were right behind her when all three of them were on World Record radar at one stage but still it was a great race though to start night 2.

Then we saw a really great finish in the Women’s 100m breaststroke where Jenna Strauch just closed out 15-year-old Ella Ramsay by 0.04 secs at the end of the wall. Yes, experience is important right now but surely the future would be exciting; so Ramsay can look to first set national records here then internationally (both World Champs & Olympics) after that in the long run – watch this space.

Looking at the men now, they may be nowhere near the world record line but still produced some excellent competition along the way. That 100m backstroke last lap dash between Isaac Cooper and Brad Woodward was really good to watch while 20-year-old Max Giuliani came out of nowhere to upsurge Thomas Neill, Elijah Winnington and Kai Taylor in the 200m Freestyle. Looks like Tasmania has produced another top quality swimmer after Ariarne Titmus that is tipped for world heights & like Arnie, he too also moved to the Gold Coast to better his swimming and it’s so far, so good. Too early to say right now as you never know when looking for gold but he’s 100% off to Paris for the first time soon enough!!

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2024 Australian Olympic Swimming Trials Day 1: World Records almost broken with excellent competition for 1st in Brisbane

by Sports Benches

We’ve kickstarted the Australian Swimming Olympic Trials last night with a bang with two of our swimmers so very nearly breaking the new world record times while we had some strong competition in the other races that would put the Dolphins in a very good position going into Paris at the end of next month.

Ariarne Titmus was outstanding even though she was on the World Record radar for sometime during her 400m freestyle finals swim. What we hope to see from her is to walk away with both another Olympic gold and another new world record time soon enough. Also a really good moment in that starting race of the night is Lani Pallister finishing behind Arnie in 2nd, who is now on her way to competing in her first Olympic Games campaign. Now there’s some room for improvement having only won just the one 4 x 200m Freestyle team relay race last year at the World Championships in Fukuoka but Lani is there to push her and herself to even better heights. Who knows? We could see a 1-2 finish again after all but at future Olympics & Worlds.

We’ve seen the same for Kaylee McKeown in the women’s 200m Individual Medley where she was too good despite being just under a second off the current world record time being set by Katina Hossku from Hungary back in the 2015 World Championships. More to come from the Queen of backstroke throughout the week including some team relay contributions.

Then in the men’s there’s really huge competition such as that three-way fight in the 100m breaststroke and the 400m freestyle. Yes, Sam Williamson won that race in the breaststroke who finally won a World Championship gold medal off the back of a 50m breaststroke dash earlier this year in Doha. However, Joshua Yong finished just under a second behind Sam in 2nd ahead of Zac Stubblety-Cook in 3rd – this is what we wanted to see in order to for either 2-3 of them to hopefully get a breakthrough Olympic gold medal. 

And we should be in good shape in the Men’s 400m Freestyle and also the long-distance races to come where Elijah Winnington just closed out Sam Short through the end of the wall on what has been a spectacular race to see these two battling hard all along side-by-side. Yes, it would’ve been better if that race would have meant seeing either of them looking to break that world record time. However, competition is what we need for them to test themselves as if they’ve competing v the best of the best swimmers in Paris.

Day 1 done, six more to go on the Road to Paris with the heats in the morning followed by the Finals to decide at night.

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One silver by the 4 x 100 Women’s Medley Relay Team and Meg Harris’s joint bronze in the 50m Freestyle Final wraps up Australia’s run in 2nd at the 2022 World Swimming Championships

by Sports Benches

The Dolphins may have collected just the silver and bronze on the final day of this year’s World Swimming Championships, but they still finished 2nd on this medal tally alone with six gold, nine silver and two bronze at a total of 17 medals.

Nice seeing Meg Harris share the joint bronze medal with Team USA’s Erika Brown at 24:38 in the Women’s 50m Freestyle Final. She was 3rd fastest overall from start to finish – including a great start in her heat & also she finished 2nd in the 2nd semi.

Then we saw the 4 x 100 Women’s Medley Relay Team wrap up 2nd after a fantastic start earlier yesterday in the heats. Yes, they couldn’t nail down Team USA on time for the gold when building an early lead would’ve gave them an extra edge towards their arch rivals. However, the girls swam really well within the Top 3 nonetheless from Kaylee McKeown, Jenna Strauch, Brianna Throssell & Mollie O’Callaghan.

Overall, it’s great to see our Dolphins finish off 2nd. We have a few of the world’s fastest swimmers that is developed & produced right here with freestyler Mollie O’Callaghan, backstroker Kaylee McKeown, and breaststroker Zac Stubblety-Cook. Although Elijah Winnington’s opening day gold in the Men’s 400m Freestyle Final may not have translated everywhere else, but surely he can bounce back next time.

And we have plenty of bright and talented youngsters coming through the ranks who is tipped for massive potential. They are ready to make history in collecting gold medals like O’Callaghan, McKeown & Stubblety-Cook – before they look to hopefully end Team USA’s long-running dominance up top & take over the world themselves regardless if its the WC and/or Olympic medal tally.

Thanks to Budapest, Hungary, for being such a great host once again for the second time that goes back to five years ago in 2017. For now, bring on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, next month, as well as renewing our arch-rivalry with Team USA back home in Sydney this August.

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Kaylee McKeown’s first WC gold in the Women’s 200m backstroke & the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay team’s outstanding race secured another two gold medals for Australia on Day 7 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships

by Sports Benches

One day to go of this year’s World Swimming Championships and the Dolphins Swim Team have once again snatched another two gold & one silver medals on Day 7 in Budapest, Hungary.

It’s good to see Kaylee McKeown back to her best in the Women’s 200m backstroke final, having finally secured her first World Championship gold. She fired off well inside the Top 3 that allowed her ample time to stay in the mix before McKeown capitalised on top spot going into the last 50m that helped her lock up both Team USA swimmers towards the finish line.

Then we saw Kiah Melverton swam her way to 2nd alongside a personal best in the Women’s 800m Freestyle Final at 8:18:77. Yes, it was a race where Team USA’s Katie Ledecky was too good all along as she’s one of the world’s best out there for over a decade. But she did so well nonetheless with a full swim performance – especially when she closed down the rest of the field just in time for her silver medal.

And a big pat on the back to our 4 x 100 Mixed Freestyle Relay Team – including Jack Cartwright, Kyle Chalmers, Madison Wilson & Mollie O’Callaghan. Not only they took home another gold but also smashed the new world record time of 3:19:38. We love Cartwright finish off his best in Stage 1 – even though his shoulders were tired after a hard fought 100m dash – before Chalmers took over & took the most credit that sent Australia into the lead by the time he handed over to Wilson & O’Callaghan at the halfway mark. The team effort & communication Cartwright & Chalmers built here has set up an easy finish for the girls where they have swam proud on the run home for them.

The door may be closed for the Dolphins for 1st behind Team USA on the medal tally, but they can finish off on a high in 2nd with plenty of gold up for grabs. There’s Meg Harris in the Women’s 50m Free, Isaac Cooper Men’s 50m backstroke & two 4 x 100 medley relays in both men’s & women’s races. Plus, Jenna Forrester in the Women’s 400m Medley if she can get past Heat 2 tomorrow.

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