Kaylee McKeown won’t go for Olympic 400m individual medley gold despite new record

But backstroker McKeown knocked back suggestions from reporters that she would add the 400m individual medley to her schedule for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

McKeown, who is keen to add the 200m individual medley to her backstroke schedule in Paris, paid tribute to Rice after breaking another of her Australian records.

The women’s 50m freestyle final produced a dead heat as Shayna Jack and Meg Harris both touched in a time of 24.28 seconds.

A drug ban meant Jack missed the Tokyo Games in 2021, but she’s on track to make her Olympic debut in Paris.

The Australian Open Championships have no bearing on Olympic selection, with the trials for the Paris Games to be held in early June in Brisbane.

Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook (2:07.5) survived a major scare to pip Japan’s Ippei Watanabe (2:07.62) in the 200m men’s breaststroke.