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Emma Jennifer McKeon, AM (born 24 May 1994) is a retired Australian competitive swimmer. She is an eight-time world record holder, three current and five former, in relays.
- Overview
- Family
- Early swimming career
- Commonwealth Games, Olympics, and world championships
Emma McKeon (born May 24, 1994, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) is the most successful Australian athlete in Olympic history, the winner of 11 medals. At the 2020 Games in Tokyo—which were postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic—she made history by becoming the first female swimmer and the first Australian to win seven medals ...
McKeon is one of three children born into a competitive swimming family. Her mother, Susie (née Woodhouse) McKeon, participated in the 1982 Commonwealth Games, and Ron McKeon, her father, swam at the Olympics in 1980 and 1984. David McKeon, her only brother, competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. In addition, Emma McKeon’s uncle, Rob Woodhouse, captured a bronze medal in the 400-meter men’s individual medley at the 1984 Games.
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McKeon grew up swimming in both pools and the ocean. Her first major competition was in 2010 at the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. There she won a gold medal in the 4 × 100-meter medley relay. In individual events she won a silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle and bronze medals in the 50-meter and the 200-meter freestyle events.
In 2012, at age 17, McKeon narrowly missed earning a spot on the Australian Olympic swim team. Disappointed, she quit competitive swimming. However, by the end of the year she had rededicated herself and returned to swimming. In 2013 she helped her team win silver in the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay at the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA; later called World Aquatics) World Championships in Barcelona. She won two more silver medals as a preliminary swimmer in relays. (Prelim swimmers compete in the preliminary relay races that determine which teams qualify for the finals. Although prelim swimmers may not participate in the final race, they still win medals for helping the team reach the finals.)
In 2014 McKeon attended the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She won a gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle event, setting an Australian record with a time of 1 min 55.57 sec. She also earned bronze medals in the 100-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly as well as gold medals in three relay events (4 × 100-meter freestyle relay, 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay, and 4 × 100-meter medley relay). At the 2015 world championships in Kazan, Russia, McKeon helped the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay team win gold and the 4 × 100-meter medley team win bronze.
Over the next few years McKeon continued to perform successfully in competitions. In 2016 she went to Rio de Janeiro to compete in her first Olympics. She won four medals, including a bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle. As a team member she won a gold medal in the 4 × 100-meter freestyle relay and two silver medals in the 4 × 200-meter freestyle relay and the 4 × 100-meter medley relay.
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Olympic medals
2016 Rio Games
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250K Followers, 592 Following, 941 Posts - Emma McKeon (@emmamckeon) on Instagram: "14 x Olympic Medalist🇦🇺 @unicefaustralia ambassador @tgisport.talentau".
Apr 17, 2024 · The Australian swimmer, who won seven medals at Tokyo 2020, reveals her goals and challenges for Paris 2024. She talks about her motivation, discipline, mental fortitude, and love for swimming.
- McKeon has swimming DNA. Some Olympians stumble upon their sports by chance, but the same could not be said of McKeon, who comes from strong swimming stock.
- Break from competition after London trials. Despite showing a lot of promise as a junior swimmer, McKeon suffered her first heartbreaking moment at the London 2012 Olympic Trials.
- A brain for nutrition. It’s not only in the pool where McKeon has been successful over the past few years. In 2019 she completed a bachelor’s degree in health promotion and public health nutrition, taking one or two courses each semester.
- She enjoys a sweet treat. Being a professional athlete with a nutrition degree means that McKeon eats healthily... most of the time. However, she does enjoy a good cheat meal too.
Jul 29, 2024 · Emma McKeon is Australia's greatest Olympian, with seven medals from Tokyo and four Olympic records. She will retire after Paris 2024, where she will compete in the relays and 100m butterfly.
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Jul 28, 2024 · In 2012, a teenage Emma McKeon nearly gave swimming away. Twelve years later, on day one of the Paris Olympics, she became Australia’s most prolific gold medallist.
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