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Kaylee McKeown dominates again with world’s fastest 200 IM time this year

Kaylee McKeown has cruised to victory in the 200m individual medley in the Sydney Open on Sunday.

Kaylee McKeown has cruised to victory in the 200m individual medley in the Sydney Open on Sunday. Photo: Delly Carr

Teenage swim star Kaylee McKeown will go into the Olympic trials full of confidence after wrapping up a dominant campaign at the Sydney Open.

The 19-year-old Queenslander won the 200m individual medley in two minutes 08.73 seconds – the fastest time recorded in the world this year – at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Sunday.

And she backed it up in winning the non-Olympic 50m backstroke, setting a national and Commonwealth record of 27.16 seconds – just 0.18 second outside the world record.

McKeown was brilliant throughout the three-day Sydney Open, previously setting world-best marks for 2021 in the 100m and 200m backstroke.

It appears a mere formality that she will dominate again at next month’s Tokyo Games trials in Adelaide.

“We really do put a lot of focus and attention on our race processes and we find that if we get those processes done well then the result usually follows,” McKeown’s coach Chris Mooney said.

“We never really focus on the result, just focus on what we can control.”

Another Queenslander in record-breaking form on Sunday was Zac Stubblety-Cook, who clocked a new Australian mark of 2:07.00 – the second fastest time in the world this year for the 200m breaststroke.

“It does wonders for the confidence, knowing that all the hard work in training, that comes down to just over two minutes work in the race is certainly paying off and we are on the right track,” he said.

There was also success for Gold Coast-based Maddy Gough in the 1500m freestyle in a personal best time of 15:55.14 – seven seconds under the Olympic qualifying time.

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