Australian Olympic swimming champion Kaylee McKeown has announced she will be taking a break from swimming to prioritise her mental health. McKeown revealed on Saturday that she felt she needed to pull out of the lucrative World Cup series in China, just one day into the competition.
The 23-year-old – who already has five Olympic gold medals to her name – arrived in Shanghai for day one of the first leg of the competition on Friday. However, while she initially planned to have a break following the World Cup, McKeown took to Instagram to reveal the mental toll of a packed 2024 swimming schedule meant she feels she can no longer compete at her best and needs to take some time away from the sport.
“I would like to thank World Aquatics for the opportunity to come out and race at World Cups, it’s been so much fun here in Shanghai,” McKeown wrote on Instagram. “Putting my mental health first, I’ve decided to cut my experience short.
“As an athlete, it’s so important to listen to your heart and to know when enough is enough. Time for a well overdue break.”
A post shared by Kaylee McKeown OAM (@kaylee_mckeown)
The announcement was flooded with messages of support from her Dolphins teammates, celebrating her incredible achievements in 2024. "Congrats on an amazing season! We’re all so proud of you. Now it’s time to enjoy some well-deserved rest," Mollie O’Callaghan wrote. While Shayna Jack added: "Proud of you.” World Aquatics also responded to the announcement writing: “Take some rest and enjoy your time off. See you next year stronger than ever."
McKeown was a dominant force in the World Cup series last year, winning the overall women’s title and breaking multiple world records at the competition. However, a gruelling 2024 season has finally caught up with Australia's golden girl.
After her multiple triumphs at the Olympics, she was back in the water just weeks later at the Australian short course championships, while many of her Aussie contemporaries rested. McKeown says she endured somewhat of a post-Paris struggle and went "stir crazy" before returning to the pool in style in Adelaide last month.
But now McKeown has scratched the World Cup and the world short course championships on December 10-15 off her schedule to give herself some much-deserved time off. “Today I made the decision to pull out of the 2024 world short course team, it’s not something I wanted to do but needed to do,” McKeown wrote.
“The past five-year prep has been an onslaught both physically and mentally. I have continuously pursued for consistency and greatness within the work I do and sometimes you just need a break. A break from the hype, the media, the adrenaline rush from competition. Although I will not be competing at WSC I have committed to World Cups in a few weeks. I’m looking forward to competing freely with no pressure and little work.”
