The 29-year-old took a short break from the sport after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and considered retirement.
Ariarne Titmus took out the women's 400m freestyle title at the 2024 Australian swimming championships,beating Lani Pallister.
It was widely assumed by swimmers and coaches that McKeon would not make it to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028,given her age,and that was confirmed this week by the reigning 50m and 100m freestyle champion.
“This will definitely be my last Olympics,so I’m excited for that,” McKeon told Olympics.com. “Success for me in Paris would be to swim faster than I ever have before.”
McKeon has been racing this week at the Australian Open Championships on the Gold Coast,but hasn’t been dominating freestyle races like she has in years gone by. She finished third in the 100m freestyle,more than a second outside her personal best,and third in the 50m freestyle.
McKeon won the 50m butterfly,which is not an Olympic event,as well as the 100m butterfly on Saturday evening in pouring rain.
Emma McKeon after racing in the women’s 50m freestyle at the Australian Open Swimming Championships this week.Getty Images
Like other swimmers,McKeon is still in heavy training,so times this week do not serve as a perfect gauge of how they are tracking. It would be unwise to back against McKeon,who boasts 11 medals from two Olympic campaigns.
McKeon must finish in the top two in races at Australia’s Olympic trials in June if she wants an individual spot on the team but does have the fallback of relays.
“My training has been going well;I’m really happy with it,” McKeon said.
“It’s probably been the best it’s been since Tokyo,so I’m really happy with how that’s going. The racing[results] haven’t shown what I thought they would this meet.
Olympian Emma McKeon.Getty
“I’m 30 in a month,so I’ve got to get used to everything is changing and I think I have to be happy that my training is holding up to the level that it was in Tokyo. I’ve just got to rest my body to race fast.
“The confidence is still there,but I’ve kind of got to keep positive when you’ve got these young ones coming through.”
The women’s 100m freestyle will be the most hotly contested race at the Australian trials,with the likes of McKeon,Mollie O’Callaghan,Shayna Jack,Meg Harris,Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell all vying for a top two spot.
McKeon holds the Australian record (51.96),but O’Callaghan is a two-time world champion (2022 and 2023) in the event.
“Yeah it[Australia’s depth] is crazy,” McKeon said. “It’s the same across the world really. Come[the trials],it’s going to be exciting and it’s definitely kept me pushing really hard in training. I think that’s a good thing.”
Asked if there was a finality about the next few months,given this will be her final Olympics,McKeon said:“I try not to think about it. Every day I am turning up to training the same way I was leading into Tokyo and trying to get the best out of myself.”
Meanwhile,Australian sprint star Kyle Chalmers took out the 100m freestyle title on Saturday evening before revealing he required surgery last year to fix an injured ankle that he suffered in a football game.
Chalmers held off a strong field to win his best event in a time of 47.63 seconds in what is an impressive sign before trials.
The 25-year-old won his maiden longcourse world championship gold medal in the event in Fukuoka last year.
Kyle Chalmers.Getty
But according to Chalmers,his preparations for Paris were impacted after a game of Aussie Rules football with mates that did not go to plan in August. Chalmers injured his ankle and was forced to undergo surgery.
Chalmers was in a moon boot but back in the pool in a week later on a modified training program.
“At the end of last year I actually did my syndesmosis in my ankle so I had to have full surgery ... with screws in my ankle,” Chalmers said.
“To rehab that and get out of the crutches to get back fast again was really special. “It wasn’t that fun. To be back at 100 per cent is exciting.
“I’ve banned myself[from footy]. It wasn’t a smart move. I didn’t really want to play but I went out there for three minutes in the second half.
“I didn’t even touch the ball or get touched ... I just rolled over my ankle. Just a bit of a freak accident.
“That swim definitely felt really solid.”