PARIS -- Hey, United States, Australia is coming for you!
In just nine minutes on Friday evening at La Defense Arena in west Paris, Australia took its gold medal tally from eight to 10 -- five to seven in the pool -- setting up what shapes as an enthralling final two days of competition against the Americans for Olympic swimming supremacy.
Since the 1956 Games in Melbourne, the United States has topped every Olympic swimming meet they've competed in, bar 1988. But in 2024 they find themselves in an unfamiliar position, having tallied just four gold medals -- the same as host nation France -- and trailing the Australians by three. For that, Australia has Kaylee McKeown and Cam McEvoy to thank; two athletes who have walked contrasting paths to their respective Olympic euphoria.
THESE OLYMPIC GAMES were supposed to be the platform for modern day's great backstroke rivalry to play out in front of the world. Kaylee McKeown and Regan Smith. Smith and McKeown. The Australian, a double Olympic champion in the discipline, but the American, a recent world record breaker in the 100m, and someone that had seemingly hit top form at precisely the right time.
But as McKeown battered the water in delight, then triumphantly raised her fists toward the La Défense Arena rafters in celebration of an unimaginable Olympic double-double, it was evident she had no rival. For the second time in three days, McKeown left Smith and the other six finalists behind, powering away in the back half of the 200m event to cement herself as perhaps the greatest backstroker of all time.
"She is an absolutely incredible racer," Smith said of McKeown after the Australian's triumph in the 100m earlier in the week. "She knows what to do when it matters."
That's putting it lightly. The 23-year-old McKeown has now contested six Olympic finals; she's walked away with the gold medal five times. But with the pressure of achieving that unprecedented backstroke clean sweep at consecutive Games, this triumph may well have been her most impressive.
Third at the first turn, third at the second turn, there was never any panic for McKeown, who is forever speaking about the work she puts in to ensure she finishes races strongly. And that's exactly what she did. McKeown moved alongside Smith on the third lap, and then in front, looking every bit the near-unbackable favourite she was entering the race. Moments later, she would stop the clock in a new Olympic record time of 2:03.73s.
In a week where a number of Australian female athletes, including several swimmers, have taken their turn laying claims to being the nation's greatest Olympian, it's McKeown who now boasts the most rock solid resume.
Friday evening's triumph makes her the first Australian to successfully defend two individual Olympic events. Gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke in Tokyo. And now gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke in Paris. Those four medals are also the equal-most won in individual events at the Games by an Australian. More than Ian Thorpe. More than Ariarne Titmus. More than Dawn Fraser. In fact, now only Hungary's Krisztina Egerzegi and iconic American pair, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, have won more individual Olympic gold medals in swimming than McKeown.
Add in her fifth gold, won in the 100m medley relay in Tokyo, and she only trails Emma McKeon (6) on Australia's all-time Olympic medal tally. But that mightn't last too much longer.
Not 30 minutes after standing atop the podium for the second time this week, McKeown was back in the pool for the semifinals of the 200m individual medley. It's an event she did not contest in Tokyo, but one she has dedicated herself to over the last few years in order to be in a position to contend for the medals in Paris. And given her 2:06.63s swim at the Australian trials in June -- the third-fastest in history and easily the best posted this year -- another medal seems almost inevitable.
And if she does achieve the hattrick of individual gold at these Games, she might just end the Australian Olympic G.O.A.T debate that's been raging.
IT'S EIGHT DAYS out from the opening ceremony down the River Siene, and Cameron McEvoy stands surrounded by Australian media at the team's training base in Chartres, 90 kilometres south-west of the French capital.
This is the first opportunity the press has had to speak to the star sprinter in weeks, who stayed back in Australia to complete his final preparations when many of his Dolphins teammates first jetted off to Europe. There's an extreme confidence exuding from him as he discusses his form.
"I'm swimming as fast as I ever have," he says with a cheeky grin.
But later, he delves into a rather candid admission.
"I didn't think I would be on the team again at an Olympics," says McEvoy. "It's something I can't take for granted. I definitely need to take a step back and just appreciate the opportunity to relate to the Olympic experience on a new level. It's a chance to rewrite my relationship with the Olympics."
It was eight years ago, in Rio, where McEvoy had started hot favourite in the 100m freestyle final. Nobody had gone quicker than him that year and the overwhelming expectation was he would deliver gold for Australia in swimming's blue riband event. Australia did win the race, but not with McEvoy. Instead, it was 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers saluting, while McEvoy finished a disappointing and unexplainable seventh. It was despair. Heartbreak. Dreams shattered in the blink of an eye.
McEvoy didn't just take his chance at Olympic redemption, he clung onto it with a fierce determination of atoning for that past nightmare. And in just 21.35 seconds on Friday evening in Paris, he vanquished those demons entirely, pipping a stacked field to win the frantic 50m freestyle.
Capturing his first individual Olympic medal in his fourth Games only epitomises the resilience and persistence that's underscored McEvoy's entire career.
Those eight years that followed his heartache in Rio were agonising. He contemplated retirement, undertook a two-year hiatus, then came back dropped the 100m distance and drastically overhauled his diet and training regime, one which now includes more calisthenics, rock climbing and weightlifting than swimming. But every day that desperation to atone for his performance in Rio spurred him on.
"It's hard to explain the two-year process that it took to get here and the route I took," McEvoy said after striking gold in the one-lap splash and dash. "That act of creation, effectively, over the last two years ... being the guinea pig, going through the motions and seeing where it would take me is something that I'm going to be most proud of.
"The entire two year journey, it wasn't just a transformation as an athlete. As a human being I grew a lot in terms of this process."
Making Friday's triumph even sweeter was that just like in Rio, McEvoy was a firm favourite to touch the wall first. His 21.13s, set in February, was the fastest time recorded this year. He also held the best mark of last year with a 21.06, a time that took him to gold at the world championships in Fukuoka.
But this was the Olympics. The pressure doesn't get greater. And yet he delivered, not only Australia's first Olympic gold medal in the event, but the first in Paris by one of the nation's male athletes.