2020 Swammy Awards: Kaylee McKeown Earns Oceania Female Swimmer Of The Year

To see all of our 2020 Swammy Awards, click here.

2020 OCEANIA FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: KAYLEE MCKEOWN

19-year-old Kaylee McKeown already introduced herself to the world by way of her 200m backstroke silver medal at last year’s World Championships. But, the USC Spartan elevated herself to an entirely new level in 2020, busting out national records and ending the year with a shiny new World Record.

She kicked off this coronavirus-pandemic-filled year with two-lifetime bests right off the bat in January. At the South Australia State Championships, McKeown produced a 100m back effort of 58.52 and a 200m back result of 2:05.83 to get her long course racing season started off right.

Flash forward to November’s Queensland Medal Shots meet and McKeown fired off warning shots of what was still yet to come, knocking down Emily Seebohm’s longstanding 100m and 200m backstroke national records.

In the former, McKeown produced a time of 58.11, slicing .41 off of her own previous personal best in the event and checking in as the world’s then-4th fastest performer all-time.

At that same meet McKeown clocked a 2back outing of 2:04.49 to become Australia’s first-ever female to delve under 2:05 territory in the event. Her time rendered McKeown as the world’s 3rd fastest performer.

The most head-turning performance from the teenage, however, came in the short course pool where McKeown established a 200 backstroke World Record. Swimming at the Australian Virtual SC Championships, McKeown fired off a time of 1:58.94 to take the national title.

That not only scorched her own previous PB of 2:03.04 from last year, but it overtook the current World Record of 1:59.23 that’s been on the books since 2014. Hungary’s Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu produced that former WR at that year’s World Short Course World Championships.

Versatile McKeown also logged a new Australian national record in the 200m IM at those virtual SC Championships, posting a lifetime best of 2:03.68 to check-in as the 7th fastest performer all-time, worldwide.

Finally, concluding the year at the Queensland Championships back in the long course pool, McKeown blasted a 100m back time of 57.93. That result represents the world’s second-fastest performance of all-time, sitting only behind the current World Record of 57.57 American Regan Smith put up at last year’s World Championships.

McKeown also raked in a 200m IM/200m back double later in the meet, while also producing personal bests in her off events of the 100m breast and 100m free.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

In no particular order.

• Helena Gasson (NZL) – 26-year-old Olympian Gasson proved to be a solid contributor to her International Swimming League (ISL) squad of the LA Current. The versatile kiwi finished the season having earned 89 points for her squad, but it was the number of national records she downed in the process. Over the course of the season, Gasson racked up an impressive 5 new national marks including the 100m back (57.96), 100m fly (57.58), 200m fly (2:07.14), 200m IM (2:07.78) and 400m IM (4:32.48).
• Erika Fairweather (NZL) – 16-year-old Fairweather made her mark last year by taking the 200m free World Junior Championships title. This year she’s beginning to make the transition to the senior ranks, including having qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in the 400m free. She produced a near-lifetime best of 4:07.43 to add her name to the NZL roster for Tokyo at just 16.

Previous Winners:

• 2013 – Cate Campbell, Australia
• 2014 – Cate Campbell, Australia
• 2015 – Emily Seebohm, Australia
• 2016 – Cate Campbell, Australia
• 2017 – Emily Seebohm, Australia
• 2018 – Ariarne Titmus, Australia
• 2019 – Ariarne Titmus, Australia
• 2020 – Kaylee McKeown, Australia