Swimming: McKeown signs fourth fastest 400m medley in history

An impressive Kaylee McKeown clocked the fourth-fastest women's 400m medley in history on Thursday, but the Australian said she had no plans to compete in the distance at the Olympic Games. Paris. “No,” she replied poolside when asked if she would swim the 400m medley at the Olympic trials in Australia in June. “I did it and I’m glad I did it. It’s good to challenge yourself,” she emphasized.

The 22-year-old swimmer, who holds world records in all three backstroke distances (50, 100 and 200m), demonstrated her versatility at the Australian Championships in Gold Coast, Queensland, by touching the wall in 4 min 28 sec 22/100th.

She broke the Australian record set by Stephanie Rice at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was almost six seconds faster than anyone else this year over the distance. Only the Canadian Summer McIntosh, world record holder in 4 min 25 sec 87/100th, and the Hungarian Katinka Hosszu have already been faster.

The performance comes a day after McKeown became only the fifth woman to go under 2min 7sec in the 200m medley, again breaking a former Australian record owned by Rice. But even if the 200m medley should appear on her Parisian program, in addition to the backstroke events, she indicated that she would skip the 400m medley, despite serious chances of a medal.