Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown pulls off one other golden double | Swimming

Kaylee McKeown, the world record-holder, underlined her standing because the undisputed queen of backstroke as she added 200m gold to her triumph within the 100m on the world championships in Singapore on Saturday.

Once once more it was American Regan Smith making an attempt to take down McKeown, solely to be reeled in on the final lap because the Australian clocked 2min 03.33sec, the third-fastest of all time. It was practically a second higher than Smith (2:04.29), who had taken silver behind McKeown within the 100m and 200m on the Paris Olympics, and was runner-up to her within the 100m in Singapore.

Just like in Paris, McKeown’s win got here straight after her compatriot Cameron McEvoy stormed to his second 50m freestyle title in 21.14sec, changing into the oldest Australian swimming world champion on the age of 31.

Fastest off the blocks, McEvoy as soon as once more denied Ben Proud gold, having overwhelmed the Briton to the Olympic title by a fingertip a 12 months in the past. A brand new dad since Paris, McEvoy thanked his spouse, Maddi, and gave a shout-out to his child boy, Hartley.

“It’s a very different life,” he mentioned. “I’ve got to navigate it, I’ll figure it out. But it’s cool to have that at home and still be here doing what I love.”