Kaylee McKeown swam the fourth-fastest women's 400m individual medley on Thursday but said she had no plans to compete in the event at the Paris Olympics despite being a serious medal contender. The 22-year-old, who holds world records in all three backstrokes, showed her versatility at the Australian Championships in Gold Coast. She touched the wall in 4 minutes 28.22 seconds. 

Her time bettered the Australian record set by Stephanie Rice at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was almost six seconds faster than anyone else this year. It came a day after McKeown became the fifth woman to break 2:07 in the 200m individual medley. She also broke Rice's long-standing Australian record.

However the young swimmer only has the 200m on her schedule for Paris 2024, despite her medal ambitions in the 400m. "No," she said by the pool when asked if she would compete in the 400m at the Olympic Trials in June. "One and done, that's me," she added. "I did it and I'm glad I did it. It's good to challenge yourself.

She swam the 400m individual medley. Despite being an Olympic champion, she did not compete in the 100m backstroke and in her absence, Mollie O'Callaghan took first place with a personal best of 58.09. So far this year, only McKeown and American rival Regan Smith have been faster.

"I would love to get to 57, but the backstroke is really tough here," said O'Callaghan. She confirmed that she will be competing in the event at the Olympic Trials. Reigning Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook won the 200m breaststroke in a race that featured three former world record holders. He clocked 2:07.50 ahead of Japan's Ippei Watanabe (2:07.62), who swam by invitation.

Stubblety-Cook lost his world record to China's Qin Haiyang last year. He said he wanted to get it back. "Absolutely. You get to the top and you realise how good it is and you really want to get back there," he said.

There were more races to come, including the women's 50m freestyle, where Shayna Jack and Meg Harris tied with a time of 24.28. Youngster Flynn Southam won the 200m freestyle in 1:46.11. He beat Elijah Winnington, who had set the world's fastest time in the 400m freestyle the day before.

Lizzie Dekkers posted the second fastest time of the year in the women's 200m butterfly (2:05.20). With less than 100 days to go until the Olympic Games, she has furthered her Olympic ambitions.