With the benefit of hindsight, it may seem that Australian swimmer Emma McKeon was always destined for greatness. The 28-year-old was born into swimming royalty: her father, Ron McKeon, is a former Olympian and four-time Commonwealth Games champion in middle-distance freestyle, while mum Susie McKeon and uncle Rob Woodhouse also swam for Australia. For decades the McKeon family have operated a swimming school in the Illawarra, and McKeon junior was in the water before she could walk.
But McKeon’s glittering career – three days into the 2022 Commonwealth Games she is on the brink of all-time greatness – was almost over before it began. A decade ago, at 17, McKeon was a rising star. At the 2012 national championships in Adelaide, which doubled as the trial event for the London Olympics, McKeon was hopeful of qualifying for the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
