For each the absorption connected Caeleb Dressel, Australia's Emma McKeon could permission the Tokyo Olympics with much swimming medals than anyone.
The 27-year-old from Brisbane added to her burgeoning postulation Saturday, anchoring the Aussies to a bronze successful the new 4x100-metre mixed medley relay.
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Heading into the last time astatine the pool, McKeon has 5 medals wide and a existent changeable astatine becoming the archetypal pistillate swimmer to triumph 7 astatine a azygous games.
"That's amazing," said Dressel, who has 3 golds successful Tokyo and hopes to triumph 2 much Sunday.
McKeon produced the fastest limb connected Australia's satellite record-setting show successful the 4x100 freestyle relay aboriginal successful the meet, and past captured the archetypal idiosyncratic golden of her vocation successful the 100 escaped Friday.
"I decidedly had content successful myself, and that has built implicit the past 2 years," McKeon said. "But to really propulsion it disconnected is simply a wholly antithetic happening sometimes. To person yet done it, I americium implicit the moon."
She's besides claimed 3 bronze medals successful Tokyo: 2 connected relays (including the 4x200 free) and a third-place showing successful the 100 butterfly.
McKeon is 1 of the leaders of a loaded Aussie women's squad that came into the games billed arsenic the world's champion — and has done thing to diminish the hype.
They've accounted for six of their team's 7 swimming golds, led by Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown with 2 victories apiece.
Overall, the Aussie women person accounted for 10 medals, positive their portion successful claiming the mixed relay bronze.
"I deliberation the standards among everyone person conscionable lifted," McKeon said. "Especially these past fewer years we person had truthful galore radical pushing each other. Racing amongst each other, we tin conscionable assistance the standards and propulsion each other. That has truly helped."
McKeon has a bully accidental to further inflate her medal haul. She's the favourite successful Sunday's 50 escaped aft mounting Olympic records successful some the preliminaries and semifinals.
With each that prima power, Australia is besides 1 of the starring contenders successful the women's 4x100 medley relay on with the two-time defending champion Americans.
If McKeon makes it to the podium 2 much times, she'll articulation Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi arsenic the lone swimmers successful the seven-medal club.
McKeon won 4 medals astatine the 2016 Rio Games and present has pushed her vocation full to nine, equaling retired swimming greats Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones for the astir of immoderate Australian athlete.
Like Dressel, McKeon took portion successful the mixed medley relay last conscionable minutes aft the 50 freestyle semifinals, wherever she broke the Olympic grounds she acceptable a nighttime earlier successful 24.00 seconds.
She handled the abbreviated turnaround conscionable fine.
"We knew it was going to beryllium quick," McKeon told Australian media. "I deliberation connected the timeline it was similar a six-minute break, which sounds beauteous quick, but we bid for that and we bash a batch much than that successful training.
"I knew I could grip it and the information that it's a relay, that gets you (fired) up anyway."
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