Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Swimming superstar Kaylee McKeown, already frustrated to be sidelined by glandular fever, has had insult added to illness as her 50 metres backstroke world record has been ripped away from her by an Italian teenager.
Five-time Olympic champ McKeown, the greatest backstroker in history, is determined to get back to full fitness and compete in the Los Angeles Games after the illness that’s kept her out of the Commonwealth Games and this week’s Pan Pacific Championships.
But she’s again been made aware of just what a task lies ahead as Italy’s coming star, 19-year-old Sara Curtis, smashed the Queenslander’s 50m global mark in 26.63 seconds in the semi-finals of the European championships in the Paris Olympic pool on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
That slashed nearly a whopping quarter-of-a-second off McKeown’s mark of 26.86 set at a World Cup meet in Budapest, Hungary, in October 2023.
Curtis, born in Savilgliano to an Italian father and a Nigerian mother, has been making dramatic strides since attending the swimming powerhouse, University of Virginia.
She had signalled her form by winning bronze in Tuesday’s 100m freestyle at the Europeans, but even as top seed for the dash after her European record 27.07 in Rome in June, she was stunned by her record-breaking swim.
“I knew I was capable of doing it but I didn’t expect it here, in this race, in this moment,” the youngster beamed.
“It’s just so awesome and I’m so happy! I can tell that I am super woman right now, it’s unbelievable and I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.”
There were other warning signs for 25-year-old Queenslander McKeown, with Russian Alina Gaifutdinova coming home second fastest in the semi-finals in 26.91 — the third fastest time in history.
When McKeown recorded her 50m time in 2023, she was the first swimmer to hold the 50, 100 and 200m backstroke world records simultaneously.
Now, though, McKeown only holds the 200m mark, after losing the 100m record to US rival Regan Smith in June 2024.
