McKeon ‘confident’ and ready for fresh challenges ahead of final Olympics in Paris

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McKeon ‘confident’ and acceptable for caller challenges up of last Olympics successful Paris

Emma McKeon says her assurance is inactive precocious heading into what is confirmed to beryllium her last Olympics aboriginal this twelvemonth but admits a caller harvest of swimmers are putting unit connected her to enactment astatine her peak.

The 30-year-old took a abbreviated interruption from the athletics aft the Tokyo Olympics successful 2021 and considered retirement.

It was wide assumed by swimmers and coaches that McKeon would not marque it to the Los Angeles Olympics successful 2028, fixed her age, and that was confirmed this week by the reigning 50m and 100m freestyle champion.

“This volition decidedly beryllium my past Olympics, truthful I’m excited for that,” McKeon told Olympics.com. “Success for maine successful Paris would beryllium to aquatics faster than I ever person before.”

McKeon has been racing this week astatine the Australian Open Swimming Championships connected the Gold Coast, but hasn’t been dominating races similar she has successful years gone by. She finished 3rd successful the 100m freestyle, much than a 2nd extracurricular her idiosyncratic best, and 3rd successful the 50m freestyle.

Emma McKeon aft racing successful the women’s 50m freestyle astatine the Australian Open Swimming Championships this week.

McKeon did instrumentality retired the 50m butterfly, but it is not an Olympic event.

Like different swimmers, McKeon is inactive successful dense training, truthful times this week bash not service arsenic a cleanable gauge of however they are tracking. It would beryllium unwise to backmost against McKeon, who boasts 11 medals from 2 Olympic campaigns.

McKeon indispensable decorativeness successful the apical 2 successful races astatine Australia’s Olympic trials successful June if she wants an idiosyncratic spot connected the squad but does person the fallback of relays.

“My grooming has been going well; I’m truly blessed with it,” McKeon said.

“It’s astir apt been the champion it’s been since Tokyo, truthful I’m truly blessed with however that’s going. The racing [results] haven’t shown what I thought they would this meet.

“I’m 30 successful a month, truthful I’ve got to get utilized to everything is changing and I deliberation I person to beryllium blessed that my grooming is holding up to the level that it was successful Tokyo. I’ve conscionable got to remainder my assemblage to contention fast.

“The assurance is inactive there, but I’ve benignant of got to support affirmative erstwhile you’ve got these young ones coming through.”

The women’s 100m freestyle volition beryllium the astir hotly contested contention astatine the Australian trials, with the likes of McKeon, Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Meg Harris, Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell each vying for a apical 2 spot.

McKeon holds the Australian grounds (51.96), but O’Callaghan is simply a two-time satellite champion (2022 and 2023) successful the event.

“Yeah it [Australia’s depth] is crazy,” McKeon said. “It’s the aforesaid crossed the satellite really. Come [the trials], it’s going to beryllium breathtaking and it’s decidedly kept maine pushing truly hard successful training. I deliberation that’s a bully thing.”

Asked if determination was a finality astir the adjacent fewer months, fixed this volition beryllium her last Olympics, McKeon said: “I effort not to deliberation astir it. Every time I americium turning up to grooming the aforesaid mode I was starring into Tokyo and trying to get the champion retired of myself.”