"Quite depressing"- Kaylee McKeown reveals losing love for swimming and breaking down in training after Paris Olympics

Kaylee McKeown opened up about the phase where she felt detached from the sport after her Paris Olympics campaign. She reflected on her bumpy ride from the Paris Olympics to the World Championships 2025.

McKeown's latest appearance in the pool was at the World Championships, where she won two gold medals, in the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke events. She solidified her legacy in the events by besting her rival, Regan Smith, and setting championship records in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events by clocking 57.16 and 2:03.33, respectively.

However, the journey to reach here wasn't easy for the Australian, as after her Paris Olympics campaign, she did not experience the best relationship with swimming. She opened up about this difficult phase in her recent interview with SwimSwam, revealing that post the Summer Games, she broke down during her training sessions. (7:03 onwards)

"I just found myself not loving the sport. And quite often I'd like to think I go into the training environment wanting to work hard, push myself more and more, enjoying being around my teammates, but I was going into training almost crying in my goggles every session. Just wanted nothing to do with anyone there. I quite depressing really. Like I just swim through the set. Like usually you'd sit on the wall, talk to your teammates for a little bit, and then move on to the next thing. But I just wanted to keep going," said Kaylee McKeown.

She added:

"Like I just wanted in and out. Like I wanted nothing to do with it. And it took me about until April. I was like, I can't keep swimming like this. Like I'm just not happy. And decided to bite the bullet and move up to the Sunshine Coast and go back to my old team that I was with pre-Tokyo. And it's been the best thing for me."

At the Paris Olympics, the Aussie won five medals, including two gold medals, one silver medal, and two bronze medals.

Kaylee McKeown made an honest confession about her life after winning the gold medal in Paris

Kaylee McKeown had an impressive run at the Paris Olympics, winning five medals; however, despite her staunch performance, she underwent mental health struggles post the quadrennial event. Shortly after her campaign, she did a Q&A session on Instagram, where one of her fans questioned her about how she felt after coming back to the pool following her three-month hiatus.

Replying to this, the Olympic champion stated that she took the break to focus on her mental health and was feeling refreshed. Exuding excitement to be back to the water, she wrote:

"I struggled mentally post Olympics and took a step back from the swimming world, I really needed to feel my thoughts and acknowledged my achievements and struggles. I've been out of the water for 3 months and feel refreshed and rejuvenated... most importantly EXCITED!" wrote Kaylee McKeown.

In the same Q&A session, Kaylee McKeown opened up about feeling 'very empty' and 'lonely' after her Paris Olympics heroics.