Extraordinary 0.04s revenge as Aussie hero Kaylee McKeown breaks world record against Regan Smith

Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown has claimed a new short-course world record over American rival Regan Smith at a World Cup event in the US.

A day after compatriot Mollie O’Callaghan became the first woman to swim sub 1:50 in the 200m freestyle, McKeown repeated the dose with the first sub 1:58 in the 200m backstroke.

McKeown touched the wall in 1:57.87 to secure a $US10,000 ($A15,000) bonus — but it was seriously close.

Smith finished just behind in 1:57.91 to also go lower than her old world record of 1:58.04.

McKeown’s triumph turned the tables from 24 hours earlier when Smith matched her own 100m backstroke world record, winning in 54.02 with McKeown second (55.04).

“I’ve had pretty poor swims so far, so I just wanted to see what I could do tonight,” he said.

“Having Regan there pushed me the whole way through. It’s something I’m used to, always racing one another, so it’s a fun time.

“I just wanted to go out hard and hold on.

“It’s not something that I’m used to doing but obviously in short-course I can afford to do that.”

This week’s event in Illinois is the middle leg of a three-week World Cup tour of North America, opened in Indiana last week and finishing in Toronto, Canada later this week.

McKeown has won the 50m and 200m backstroke events at both of the first two legs while Smith claimed the two 100m races.

While Smith has found success in the short-course pool, the friendly rivalry remains one-sided on the biggest stages.

McKeown has not been beaten in 100m or 200m backstroke at an Olympics or long-course world championships since finishing second to Smith in 2019.

Meanwhile, Australian great Cate Campbell has lost her eight-year-old 100m freestyle record to American Kate Douglass.

Douglass won in 50.19 — 0.06 inside Campbell’s 2017 time — with Mollie O’Callaghan finishing second in 51.44.

Douglass has become just the third swimmer to hold three individual short-course world records in different strokes.

The 23-year-old now holds short-course benchmarks in the 100m free, the 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley.

Her compatriot Gretchen Walsh (50m free, 50m/100m butterfly, 100m individual medley) and Canada’s Summer McIntosh (400m free, 200m ‘fly, 200m medley) are the others to achieve the feat.

Elsewhere, Australia’s Lani Pallister took out the women’s 1500m freestyle in 15:13.83 — the second-fastest time in the event behind American legend Katie Ledecky’s three-year-old world record of 15:08.24.

- with AAP