Australia’s McKeown wins gold in 100-meter backstroke, with Americans grabbing silver, bronze

NANTERRE, France (AP) — Kaylee McKeown still rules the women’s Olympic backstroke.

The Australian knocked off world-record holder Regan Smith of the United States in the 100 back on Tuesday night, defending the title she won at the Tokyo Games.

Smith, who broke McKeown’s world mark with a time of 57.13 seconds at the U.S. trials last month, led at the turn but couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Aussie, who defended the title she won in Tokyo three years ago.

“She is an absolutely incredible racer and she knows what to do when it matters,” Smith said. “But I’m really proud of myself.”

McKeown surged to the front about halfway through the return lap and reached for the wall in 57.33, winning by a relatively comfortable margin over Smith’s finish of 57.66.

“The nerves were definitely there but I just reminded myself it’s a pool in a different venue and I train every single day of my life,” McKeown said.

The U.S. also grabbed the bronze as Katharine Berkoff touched third in 57.98.

Smith reached over the lane rope to congratulate McKeown, but this one had to sting. The 22-year-old Minnesota native appeared to be in top form after her performance and primed to win the first gold medal of her career.

Instead, it was McKeown capturing the third individual gold of her career and fourth gold overall. She swept the backstroke events in Tokyo and also claimed a relay gold.

“It’s one race at a time,” McKeown said. “I’ve checked off three boxes so far and there’s a few more to go.”

Irish win first swimming gold since 1996

Daniel Wiffen won Ireland’s first gold medal in swimming since scandal-plagued Michelle Smith finished first in three events at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Wiffen surged past Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri on the final lap, looking as fresh as he did at the beginning of the grueling race.

Wiffen won in 7 minutes, 38.19 seconds, climbing on the lane ropes to hold one finger skyward. Defending Olympic champion Bobby Finke of the U.S. also came on strong in what was essentially a three-man race, also passing Paltrinieri to take the silver in 7:38.75.

The bronze went to the Italian, who posted a time of 7:39.38.

It was another dazzling performance by an Irish swimmer, on the heels of Mona McSharry grabbing a bronze in the 100 breaststroke the previous night.

Until these Olympics, the country’s swimming history was essentially confined to Smith, who surprisingly claimed three golds and a bronze in 1996 amid suspicions she was doping. She later received a doping ban that essentially ended her career, but she kept her medals.

Doubling up

French star Léon Marchand had a very busy day, advancing to the final in both the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke.

Marchand did a double in the morning preliminaries, then gutted through another back-to-back in the evening semifinals with about 80 minutes between races.

He posted a time of 1:53.50 in the fly semis, trailing only defending Olympic champion and world-record holder Kristóf Milák of Hungary (1.52.72). Marchand was faster than everyone in the breaststroke round, posting a time of 2:08.11 with another raucous crowd at La Defense Arena cheering him on.

Marchand will have to double up one more time in the finals Wednesday, looking to add to the gold he earned in the 400 individual medley.

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