McKeown Posts 2:05.51 200 Back Stunner To Wrap Up South Aussies

2021 SOUTH AUSTRALIA STATE OPEN & MC C’SHIPS

• Friday, January 22nd – Sunday, January 24th
• SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, Oaklands Park, South Australia
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Site
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

The 2021 South Australia State Open Championships wrapped up today at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, with on-fire Kaylee McKeown closing out the competition in style.

Among other events, the 19-year-old already scorched times of 27.38 and 58.69 in the 50m and 100m backstroke races, respectively. But tonight the USC Spartan took on the 200m back, producing a menacing result to carry on her racing momentum.

McKeown touched the wall in tonight’s 200m back final in a time of 2:05.51. Opening in 1:02.34 and closing in 1:03.17, McKeown crushed the field by over 15 seconds en route to collecting another gold here in South Australia. In doing so, she also put up the 3rd fastest performance of her young career.

The teen already owns a massive lifetime best of 2:04.49 in this event, a mark she posted at the Queensland Medal Shots meet last November. Just last month she wasn’t too far off that mark, rendering another impressive performance of 2:05.16 at the Queensland Championships.

Flash forward to tonight, and McKeown’s 2:05.51 represents the 12th fastest performance all-time across all swimmers. In fact, McKeown now owns 3 of the top 11 performances in history in this women’s 200m back event.

All-Time Top Performances in Women’s LCM 200 Backstroke

1. 2:03.35 – Regan Smith (USA), 2019
2. 2:03.69 – Regan Smith (USA), 2019
3. 2:04.06 – Missy Franklin (USA), 2012
4. 2:04.49 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2020
5. 2:04.76 – Missy Franklin (USA), 2013
6. 2:04.81 – Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), 2009
7. 2:04.94 – Anastasia Zueva (RUS), 2009
8. 2:05.10 – Missy Franklin (USA), 2011
9. 2:05.16 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2020
10. 2:05.24 – Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), 2008
11. 2:05.51 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2021

Additional Winners:

• Madi Wilson wrapped up a highly-successful meet with the women’s 100m freestyle gold. The Marion Swimming Club star punched a winning effort of 53.99 to top the field by over 2 seconds. She owns a lifetime best of 53.50 in this event, a time she produced in March of 2020.
• Although he opted out of the final, Nunawading’s Matt Temple took on the men’s 200m free heats this morning. The 21-year-old posted a top-seeded effort of 1:48.25, slicing over half a second off of his previous PB of 1:48.96.
• Brittany Castelluzzo scored a new South Australian Record in the women’s 100m fly, hitting the wall in 1:00.22 for the win. That result overtook the previous state record of 1:00.24 Ellysia Oldsen put on the books back in 2016.
• The men’s 100m back saw Queenslander Kalani Ireland get it done for gold in 57.02, while Leiston Pickett topped the women’s 50m breast field in 31.70. McKeown was also in the women’s race, touching in 31.91 as the runner-up.