Who is Emma McKeon? Everything you need to know about Australia's Olympic swimming hope

Sporting News

Who is Emma McKeon? Everything you need to know about Australia's Olympic swimming hope image

With the 2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympic Games just around the corner, plenty of our best athletes are set to compete in a wide range of sports.

Over the years, swimming has been a staple for Australia at the Games and this year will be no different.

One of our great hopes in Tokyo is freestyle and butterfly specialist Emma McKeon.

Here's everything you need to know about the sprint swim star. 

WHO IS EMMA MCKEON?

Emma McKeon is an Australian swimmer who specialising in shorter-distance races in both freestyle and butterfly.

McKeon is 27 years of age and hails from Wollongong, NSW. 

She comes from a swimming family - her brother David and her father Ron are both Olympic swimmers. 

WHAT EVENTS WILL EMMA MCKEON COMPETE IN AT TOKYO OLYMPICS?

McKeon is set to compete in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly after qualifying in the trials recently. 

She finished in 1st place in all but one of those events, where she finished in 2nd place behind Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle.

McKeon is considered a strong chance in all of these events at the Olympics. 

HAS EMMA MCKEON COMPETED AT THE OLYMPICS BEFORE?

Yes - McKeon took part in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil. 

McKeon finished with four medals at the 2016 Games - including gold in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay for the Aussies.

EMMA MCKEON COMMONWEALTH GAMES RECORD

In 2014, McKeon broke onto the scene with a quality Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

She finished with six medals - four golds and two bronze medals. Her performance saw her equal the record for swimmers, previously set by Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill

On home soil in 2018 at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, McKeon was again dominant in the pool and equalled her record from four years prior. 

She won the most number of medals in swimming at the event, finishing with four gold and two bronze medals once again. 

Sporting News

Sporting News Photo

The sports world explained. The Sporting News goes beyond the score to deliver the news, data, insights and entertainment that sports fans around the globe need to know.