Kaylee McKeown, Regan Smith Rev Up Backstroke Rivalry During World Cup
Over the past three years, Regan Smith has won 11 international medals in backstroke, reaching the podium at every opportunity. Three of those medals were gold, all from the Short Course World Championships last December, and the other eight were silver, from the Paris Olympics plus World Championships in Fukuoka and Singapore. Of those four major competitions, guess which one Kaylee McKeown did not attend.
Smith has compiled an incredible list of accomplishments in the backstroke events over the past decade, only for McKeown to stand in her way at so many key milestones. Two recent showdowns in the 100 back have been particularly gutting for Smith. She broke the world record in the event at the 2024 Olympic Trials, only for McKeown to come from behind and steal Olympic gold. And at this year’s major meet, Smith seemed to have everything pointing her way until McKeown again delivered her best swim in the biggest moment.
Four days later, McKeown pulled away from her American rival to clinch a third consecutive world title in the 200 back, and that could have been it for showdowns between the two for a full year. Rarely do these two standouts cross paths except for the major international competitions, the next of which would be the Pan Pacific Championships in August 2026. But McKeown chose to travel to North America for this year’s World Cup circuit, providing six chances in a 15-day span for the duo to go head-to-head in the 100 and 200 back.
Regan Smith — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The results on the World Cup circuit were emblematic of their rivalry. Smith achieved her first head-to-head victories over the Aussie in either event since the 2019 World Championships, but McKeown ended up finishing ahead in four of six races. Smith equaled her own world record in the 100 back at the tour’s second stop in Westmont, Ill., only for McKeown to pull off a come-from-behind victory, albeit in a slower final time, when they met in Toronto.
And then there were the record-shattering races in the 200 back. At the first stop in Carmel, Ind., McKeown comfortably handled Smith in the event, with Smith noting afterward that she expected to be much quicker in the following two stops. She indeed dropped two seconds in Westmont, but McKeown was just that little bit better. The two swimmers hit the wall at almost exactly the same time, both under Smith’s previous world record of 1:58.04, but McKeown got the touch by four hundredths, 1:57.87 to 1:57.91.
In their last contest in Toronto, both broke the world record again, with McKeown on top one more time. She ended up touching in 1:57.33 to shatter the previous mark while Smith’s 1:57.86 was an American record, a hundredth quicker than McKeown had gone in Westmont. Under the same world record twice in less than a week, only to be beaten to the finish both times, is nothing less than tough luck.
Yes, Smith has played second fiddle throughout her years of contests against McKeown, and the Australian’s long record of winning will likely earn her the title of greatest female backstroker in history. But McKeown knows she never would have reached her current level of speed without the presence of her American rival at every major checkpoint. “It’s always important to have Regan in that race,” McKeown said in Westmont. “I think we push each other all the time and without that I don’t think either of us would be where we are.”
Already, the duo has completely rewritten the record books in the backstroke events. In the long course 100-meter race, Smith has 12 of the 25 fastest times in history while the other 13 belong to McKeown. Smith has the world record at 57.13, with McKeown just three hundredths adrift. Three others have been under 58, but the closest to the top-two, Canada’s Kylie Masse, is more than a half-second behind. They are even further ahead in the 200, having both been 2:03s on multiple occasions while no other active swimmer has broken 2:05. They are not quite as dominant in the 50 back, but McKeown has the world record (26.86) while Smith is tied for fifth all-time.
Their latest performances on the World Cup circuit are leaving their mark in short course meters. Smith has twice posted the 100-meter world record of 54.02. McKeown, with her 54.49 from Toronto, is the only swimmer to come within eight tenths of that top mark. And in the 200, their arrival into 1:57-territory preceded any other swimmer in history getting under 1:59.
Following the World Cup, both swimmers have turned their attention back to long course, with numerous high-stakes showdowns sure to follow in the next few years. Both women could figure to target medals in four individual events come the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles; in addition to the 100 and 200 back, both will be contenders in the 50 back while Smith has won two consecutive Olympic silvers in the 200 butterfly and McKeown won 200 IM bronze in Paris.
Over the next three years, McKeown will try to hold off Smith while keeping an eye on the pursuit of history, a chance to become only the fourth female swimmer ever to win three consecutive Olympic golds in one event. Smith, meanwhile, will keep on pushing McKeown, seemingly destined to eventually break through in a big moment and hoping to play spoiler.
