Kaylee McKeown says she fell out of love with swimming, cried into goggles during early 2025

Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown revealed she fell out of love with the sport and cried into her goggles during nearly every training session as she began 2025. The 24-year-old five-time Olympic gold medalist had just helped Australia at Paris, where she made history as the first Australian to win four individual gold medals at a single Games, before confronting a difficult return to training and competition.

McKeown told reporters at the Australian national trials in April that she was in a really dark place mentally after Paris, explaining that the shift from a peak Olympic high to the routine of daily training left her struggling to find her footing. Despite the emotional toll, she earned a spot for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore by finishing fastest in the 50m backstroke at the trials.

Four weeks before the World Aquatics Championships, McKeown dislocated her shoulder, threatening her plans to represent Australia in Singapore. She underwent a rapid recovery and returned to win gold in the 200m backstroke, later describing 2025 as a “shambles.” She recalled that, after Paris, there had been a plan to take four months off, and she faced uncertainty about who would replace her longtime coach at Griffith University, Michael Bohl, as she tried to navigate the next phase of her career. She said she was uneasy about the future but pressed on, determined to test what she could do next.

The Dariay of events also highlighted a move that McKeown said proved pivotal: relocating to the Sunshine Coast and rejoining her former training group. She credited the change with restoring a sense of belonging and happiness, which she argued is inseparable from performance. “A happy swimmer is a fast swimmer,” she noted, adding that her best results in 2025 came when she felt grounded and supported by teammates, coaches, and a routine that felt like home.

Earlier in the year, McKeown was candid about her mental state. She described going into training sessions not wanting to engage with others and sometimes crying in her goggles, a stark contrast to the relentless drive she had shown in Paris. She said the emotional strain was not a fleeting issue but a sign that she needed to reframe her relationship with the sport. In explaining her renewed focus, she cited building a foundation and a robust support network that helped her return to the pool with more balance and clarity.

By the time she returned to competition at the Australian National Championships, McKeown had already shown signs of a comeback, winning two gold medals just a month after Paris and continuing a busy schedule with a trip to the Swimming World Cup in China. The onset of 2025 had been crowded and demanding, but she described the period as a necessary recalibration rather than a retreat from the sport.

Looking ahead to Singapore, McKeown emphasized that her goal was not to chase medals at any cost but to compete with renewed purpose and enjoyment. She said that the experience of the past year had underscored the importance of mental health and personal well-being for sustaining high performance, and she appeared hopeful that the new footing would endure as she prepared for the next chapters of her career.

In a sport where pressure can be as heavy as the water she swims through, McKeown’s reflections offer a clearer picture of the human side of elite athletics: moments of triumph, followed by periods of introspection, recovery, and a recommitment to the craft she has spent her life pursuing. Her experience illustrates how athletes can find renewed motivation by reconnecting with the elements that first drew them to the pool: the camaraderie of teammates, the steadiness of a trusted coaching team, and a sense of belonging that can transform adversity into resilience.