Four-Time Icelandic Olympic Swimmer Anton McKee Retires, 30

Four-time Olympian Anton McKee, one of Iceland’s top swimmers in history, has announced his retirement from competitive swimming. The 30-year-old retires with current Icelandic Records in 16 events, including 13 individual events. He als won a silver medal at the 2023 European Short Course Swimming Championships in the 200 breaststroke.

McKee had previously planned to race at last weekend’s Icelandic Championships, but said that he wasn’t able to prepare property because of other obligations in both his work and personal life.

“I’ve had a lot to do recently, I’ve got a full-time job and then I’m a candidate, so I didn’t get to train as much as I had planned. So I decided to skip participating this weekend and say it’s good. I leave the table satisfied after my career,” McKee said in an interview with RUV.

McKee first rose to international prominence in swimming as a swimmer at the University of Alabama in the United States where he set school records in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM.

He won 11 career All-America awards in the pool and was 2nd at the NCAA Championships in the 200 breaststroke in 2017 as a senior. His accomplishments in the pool came with a number of academic awards earned thanks to a perfect 4.0 GPA. In 2017, he was named a CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large First Team.

McKee’s recognition as one of Iceland’s top swimmers began before college though. He made his Olympic debut in 2012 at 18 years old, where he finished 25th in the 1500 free. A year later, he held the Icelandic Records in both short course and long course in the 400, 800, and 1500 freestyles.

By 2016, though, he had shifted to breaststroke races and finished 18th at the Rio Olympics in the 200 breaststroke and 35th in the 100 breaststroke.

In 2020, he finished 24th in the 200 breaststroke and he advanced to his first semifinal in what would be his last Olympics in Paris in 2024 with a 2:10.42 for 15th place.

He was a dominant athlete at the Games of the Small States of Europe, winning 13 career medals. That included six individual gold medals at the 2013 edition.

McKee began a job as a project manager for HS Orka, an Icelandic energy company that produces electricity and hot water from geothermal sources. The company is Iceland’s third-largest electricity producer.

He previously worked as a consultant for Ernst and Young in the Boston area from 2017-2019 before taking a leave of absence to prepare for the Olympic Games. His degree from Alabama was in Management Information Systems.

McKee swam one meet post-Olympics, a local club meet in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland.

McKee’s Individual Icelandic Records

McKee’s short course records in the 50, 100, and 200 breaststrokes are also Nordic Records.