Kaylee McKeown does it again with second World Record in Budapest

It was another day that ends in Y for 22-year-old Kaylee McKeown of Australia, who broke her own World Record in the 100m backstroke with a 57.33 on Saturday evening at the Duna Arena in Budapest.

The swim comes 24 hours after she broke the 50m world record to hold all three backstroke World Records simultaneously, something no one has done since American Lenny Krayzelburg set all three men’s marks in 1999.

McKeown had been knocking on the door all year on her world record she set in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics at 57.45, swimming under 58 seconds eight total times this year before today as she also won the World title at 57.53.

McKeown has been unstoppable in the backstroke races since winning both the 100m and 200m in Tokyo, becoming the first woman to win the 50m, 100m, and 200m of the same stroke at the same World Aquatics Championships this year.

“No, I honestly didn't think about swimming a world record,” McKeown said. “I was really relaxed coming into tonight. I tend to swim better when I go out a bit faster. I am trying to learn to swim a bit sharper.  I am happy that some of the things we are trying are working. This is a good stepping stone for the future.

McKeown, who is coached by Michael Bohl, will turn her attention to tomorrow’s 200m backstroke where she holds the world record at 2:03.14.

She also has a clear shot to win the women’s overall Swimming World Cup title as she currently has 157.8 points, while second place is held by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (148.4) and third by Hong Kong, China’s Siobhan Haughey (146.8).

“Don't get in your own way, is the advice that my coach Michael Bohl gave me before the race,” McKeown said. “It's a matter of trusting the process and applying it. I am not expecting anything in the 200 back, that’s a whole different ball game. I’m really excited with my performances.”

Sjostrom had a hard-fought win in the 50m butterfly as she was challenged for all she was worth by China’s Zhang Yufei as the World Record holder touched at 25.21 to Zhang’s 25.23.

It’s not the fastest either of them has swum this year or even during this World Cup but it was the third straight weekend that they went head to head, with Sjostrom winning each time, capturing the triple crown.

“It was good. It was not my best race in this tour but I managed to finish ahead of them, so I am happy with that,” Sjostrom said.

“It doesn't matter which pool; I was racing these women for the crown. Other races, other pools, it doesn't matter.

“I have done the 50 fly a million times now, and I know that a lot of things can go wrong. But I know that even when I have a pretty bad race, I know that I can still swim fast. I try to have that in my mind when swimming the 50 fly the same as the 50 free. 

"My lowest level is still pretty high. I have swum this race so many times and I know how to win the race.  I had a very very very bad start so I was trying to relax. I was trying to catch her and I was just seeing what I could do, and catch her at the end. I knew that Zhang was a fast back-end swimmer but I caught her this time."

They will go head-to-head tomorrow in the 100m butterfly where Zhang is the heavy favourite as the triple crown potential and the reigning World Champion. Zhang is currently fourth in the overall points standings at 146.6.

Haughey took care of business for her third straight 200m freestyle win with a new World Cup record at 1:54.08, lowering the previous mark of 1:55.03 from last week in Athens.

Her swim was just off her season best of 1:53.96 from the World Championships as this kind of speed could spell good things for her 100m freestyle tomorrow where she will also take aim at the world record of 51.71 set in this pool six years ago by Sjostrom.

“I am really happy with the time,” Haughey said. “Obviously a best time would be great because I have done a best time in all of the other races that I have swum. The 200 free is the event that I train for but that’s OK, I am sure my best time will come soon. I am really happy with all of the performances in the World Cup.”

The men’s overall World Cup standings are currently led by South Africa’s Matthew Sates by virtue of his double on Saturday in Budapest, as he won the 200m IM at 1:57.72 and later the 200m butterfly at 1:55.25.

Sates swam a season best in the 200m IM to keep himself 16th in the world for 2023 while his 200m butterfly was a lifetime best to put him 17th in the world this year.

“I don’t know how I did it, both races tonight with about 30 mins rest between the events,” Sates said. “I am in the top three in World Cup points. It’s only October and it’s been a good one.

“I am excited about racing here, but I am excited to go back home.  We still have our next training block.”

The overall points standings are determined by the place in the final as well as proximity to the existing world record with the highest three events considered per swimmer.

Sates was able to take the lead with 164.9 points over China’s Qin Haiyang (155.8) simply because he has swum more events thus far.

Qin won the 50m breaststroke for his second triple crown in a breaststroke event with a 26.30, his fifth fastest swim of 2023. Qin has been another unstoppable force this year in men’s breaststroke, stacking up an impressive portfolio with gold medals at the World Championships, Summer Universiade, and the Asian Games all in 2023.

“I feel some regrets that I was so close to the World Cup Record,” Qin said. “But I am now thinking about and looking forward to the next race. Each race has helped to make me stronger. We all want to break the world records.”

He finished ahead of 50m world record holder Adam Peaty (26.79), who swam a season-best to move up to tied for 10th in the world this year. Peaty has shown a lot of speed on this World Cup circuit after he has dropped out of the last two World Championships to focus on his health ahead of next year’s Olympics.

Qin will be able to take back the overall lead tomorrow if he can continue his hot streak in the 200m breaststroke, where he is the world record holder.

Michael Andrew is also in the thick of it right now for the overall World Cup crown with 155.6 points as he won the 50m backstroke on Saturday evening in Budapest at 24.64. The time is slower than his 24.48 from Berlin two weeks ago but he successfully completed the triple crown.

“That was very fun,” Andrew said. “It's always fun to win. I wanted to be under 24.4. Maybe I could have been if we didn't have to drop down and reset the start. We will never know. It felt like a good race. It was clean. I had to shut my brain off and try as fast I could knowing that.”

Italy’s Thomas Ceccon is currently fourth in the standings with 148.5 as he also completed the triple crown in the 100m freestyle at 48.41, taking down last year’s overall winner Dylan Carter of Trinidad & Tobago at 48.52. Ceccon will be racing in his best event tomorrow, the 100m backstroke, where he will take a stab at his own world record of 51.60 that he set in this pool last year at the World Championships.

“That was the worst one I think. I swam well this morning,” Ceccon said. “Three for three, so it’s not bad. Not good, but not bad because I won. But nothing exciting. Racing Allesandro (Miressi) and Dylan and these top guys pushed me. I saw that Dylan was ahead at the 50 and I said, ‘man this guy is fast’, and I made sure that  finished hard in the final 10 m for the crown.”

The Italians were able to celebrate a second win on the night with Benedetta Pilato taking the 100m breaststroke at 1:05.83, just off her 1:05.75 from earlier today when she set the World Cup record in the heats.

Pilato, the 2022 World Champ in this facility, moved up to ninth in the world for 2023 as she erased Alia Atkinson’s 1:05.93 Cup record from 2015. Despite being the defending World champion, Pilato didn’t race the 100m in Fukuoka due to Italy’s strength in the 100m breaststroke.

“This is my first race of the season and I think this is a great way to start the season,” Pilato said. “I am very happy. I changed coaches this year and it's very difficult for me now. It was a really competitive race with some very talented swimmers. I still need to swim the Olympic qualifying time to make the Italian team for the Paris Olympics. There are four very fast swimmers in my country in the 100 event but these performances give me extra confidence.”

Hungary was also able to capture two wins on the night in Budapest with open water specialist David Betlehem taking out a solid swim in the 1500m freestyle at 14:58.04, putting himself 25th in the world for 2023. Betlehem led a 1-2-3 sweep by Hungarians Zalan Sarkany and 2024 Olympian Kristof Rasovszky.

“You know it’s tough that with this time I would have made the final at the Worlds in Fukuoka,” Betlehem said. “Still, I’m pretty happy with this new PB, not that bad in October, especially a day after a 3:51 in the 400m which I didn’t expect at all. Also, I have a bit of cold, so this is awesome all in all. I’m grateful for everyone who’s contributed to this win, including my family on the stands and of course for the lads (Rasovszky and Sarkany) with whom we swim this distance at every single practice session, sometimes six times.

“Special thanks to our fourth teammate Akos Kalmar who wasn’t here today, he advised me to swim my own pace, don’t go after Raso (Rasovszky) or Zalan (Sarkany) if they swim away over the first half of the race – and this worked. Perhaps they were surprised that I didn’t start that strong, but at least I had enough steam for the finish so I’m overjoyed right now.”

Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas also won the 400m IM at 4:43.14 to kick off the evenings proceedings, much to the delight of the Duna Arena crowd.