McKeown Looks To End Sydney Open With 200 IM/50 Back Double

2021 SYDNEY OPEN

• Thursday, May 13th – Sunday, May 16th
• Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Heats at 6pm local; Finals at 9am local
• Meet Site
• Start List
• SwimSwam Preview
• Results or Meet Mobile

Continuing her siege of spectacular swims, 19-year-old Kaylee McKeown snagged two top seeds on the penultimate day of action at this 2021 Sydney Open.

Claiming the pole position in both the women’s 200m IM and 50m back, the USC Spartan clocked respective night prelim efforts of 2:12.99 and 27.46 just one event apart.

Look for improvements come tomorrow mornbing’s final, however, seeing how McKeown owns a 2IM PB of 2:08.23 from just last December, as well as a 50m back career-quickest of 27.38 from just this past January.

Although entered in the women’s 200m free, Emma McKeon is leaving the medals to the likes of Madi Wilson, Leah Neale and Brianna Throssell, all of whom threw their hat into the ring in tonight’s prelim.

Wilson led the pack in a head-turning 1:56.48, an outing which represents the 2nd fastest time of this 26-year-old’s career. Splitting 57.40/59.08, Marion’s Wilson holds a solid advantage over the next fastest competitor of Neale, with the 25-year-old Olympian having clinched the next lane over in 1:57.23.

For Neale, this performance checks in as a lifetime best, shaving .10 off of her previous career-best of 1:57.33 logged in December of last year. Prior to that her PB rested at the 1:57.35 notched in June of 2019 at the World Championships Trials.

A battle is brewing in the men’s 200m breaststroke final for the AM, with Matt Wilson and Zac Stubblety-Cook separated by less than half a second.

Racing completely different strategies, Wilson split 1:01.57/1:07.03 to grab a top time of 2:08.60, while Stubblety-Cook went with a 1:03.44/1:05.48 race breakdown to flank the once-world record holder for tonight’s race.

Additional Notes:

• Hunter’s Meg Bailey pulled a double herself, clinching the top spot in the women’s 200m fly in a time of 2:09.60. Hitting the only sub-2:10 time of the field, Bailey’s effort represents the 2nd fastest of her career, sitting only behind the 2:08.94 she put up in March of 2020. Bailey also was in the 200m IM race, taking the 3rd seed in 2:14.05 behind New Zealand’s Helena Gasson and the aforementioned McKeown.
• Matthew Temple will try to follow-up on his 50m fly win with a victory in the 100m fly tomorrow morning. Tonight, the 21-year-old Nunawading swimmer stopped the clock in 52.78 to land lane 4.
• The women’s 50m breast saw a scorcher come in the form of 19-year-old Chelsea Hodges. Hodges posted a mark of 30.28 to lead the field by over a second.
• New Zealand’s Michael Pickett scooped up the top spot in the men’s 50m free in a time of 22.36 at 18 years of age. His countryman Andrew Jeffcoat logged the quickest 100m back prelim of 54.45 for tomorrow’s final.