Olympic great Emma McKeon announces swimming retirement

Australia’s most decorated* Olympian Emma McKeon has announced her retirement from swimming.

The eight-time record holder has won 14 Olympic medals, which is more than any other Australian athlete in history. In other words, she has beaten more than 4300 athletes over a span of 120 years.

McKeon said she felt satisfied with her achievements and was now ready to pass on everything she has learnt about overcoming hardships and working hard to achieve success.

“If I look back at that young person – I think I was 17 when I missed London – you couldn’t have told her that I was going to go on to do this,” she said. “It’s just persisting, you have ups and you have downs. You just keep going along and you keep ticking the boxes. I can’t believe where I’m at right now and how I got here.”

She said getting ready for the Paris Olympics as a seasoned swimmer was the most challenging preparation she had experienced.

“I lost a lot of confidence in my swimming and felt a lot of pressure to back up what I had done in Tokyo,” McKeon said. “But I’m proud of how I handled it and proud I could still step up for my team while feeling the self-doubt.”

“Great things take time, and the long road there is where all the necessary things are learnt to take us to the next level. I will definitely miss it … It’s brought me a lot of great relationships and shaped me into the person I am.

“But I’m definitely ready for the next part of my life, which I’m excited for. I don’t think I’ve had the time to reflect on everything yet.”

She said she wanted to have an impact on the lives of others by helping them to push hard and follow their dreams.

“I want young kids to know that I was once in the same position they are – dreaming of one day doing something big,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to take on hard things and set aspirational goals* that may at times be scary. This is how we push ourselves to achieve our dreams.”

Swimming Australia head coach Rohan Taylor said McKeon was a great role model for younger athletes.

“She always carried herself with dignity*, and while we all saw her grace, the public cannot truly appreciate how tough she is,” he said. “Emma is a fierce competitor and she pushed herself through so many challenges during her career – the 100m freestyle gold in Tokyo was one of her best performances, but for me what stands out is her commitment to the team.”

“In Tokyo, she swam 50m free semi and then eight minutes later lined up for the 4x100m mixed medley relay.

“She always put her hand up to do the difficult things. And in Paris, to see her jump in the pool with her good mates and training partners was a special moment … Emma has a high level of care towards her teammates that will be missed.”

McKeon finished her Olympic career with three medals in Paris – gold in the women’s 4x100m relay, silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay and a bronze as a heat swimmer in the mixed 4x100m medley.

Her longtime coach Michael Bohl said she was a “quiet achiever” despite her amazing success.

“Hated any fuss, didn’t want any notoriety* but she took great pride in representing her country and supporting her teammates,” he said.

“What Emma has done is unsurpassed*, she set the standard for the world for so long and along the way never turned anyone away from an autograph or thought she was bigger than the team.

“And while I coached her for 9-10 years, I must acknowledge the superb work her father did in crafting her technique early in her career … he didn’t work her too hard or too long and this meant she could keep swimming until she was 30 years of age.

“What she has achieved in our sport is unsurpassed.”

POLL

GLOSSARY

• most decorated: having won the most medals
• aspirational goals: dreams, hopes or ambitions about what you want to achieve in life
• dignity: being composed or serious in manner
• notoriety: being famous
• unsurpassed: better or greater than any other

EXTRA READING
Emma McKeon makes Comm Games history
Women’s 4x100m team grabs gold and world record
Our greatest Olympic day ever

QUICK QUIZ
1. How many Olympic medals has Emma McKeon won?
2. What medals did she win at Paris?
3. What does she hope to achieve in retirement?
4. Why did her coach Michael Bohl describe her as a quiet achiever?
5. What quality does McKeon say helped her achieve greatness as an athlete?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Achieving big dreams
After reading this Kids News article, write the advice from Emma McKeon and others in the article on how to achieve big dreams.
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Which tip do you relate to the most and why?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Looking at Emma’s long and illustrious swimming career, and the things she mentions in the article that excite her, what sort of career opportunities might she move towards in this next chapter of her life?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
I’ve always wanted to know
If you had the opportunity to talk to an Olympic athlete and ask them five questions, what would you ask them?

Come up with five different questions. Challenge yourself to use different question stems (question openers words) to write your questions, and don’t forget to end with a question mark.