Paris Olympics 2024: Australia pipped by USA in swimming gold count, but cement remarkable pool legacy

“Who knows if this is ever going to happen again? I just thought, ‘Why not finish off with something like that?’” Those were the words of Kaylee McKeown, talking about her decision to urge her fully-clothed teammates to jump into the pool at the conclusion of the final swimming medal ceremony in Paris, but she could well have been referring to the bigger picture of the way the meet ended. After all, the very last race on the nine-day slate at La Defense Arena - the women’s 4x100m medley relay final - featured the three most successful female athletes in Australian Olympic history, all in action together, in an unprecedented and unforgettable scene. McKeown and fellow five-time gold medal winner Mollie O’Callaghan joined six-time gold medallist Emma McKeon - complemented by breaststroker Jenna Strauch - to ensure greatness was on hand to close out one of Australia’s best-ever efforts in the pool. This was the Games where McKeon, McKeown and O’Callaghan each cemented their individual legacies in different ways. McKeon rose above Ian Thorpe on night one to stand alone as the Aussie Olympic GOAT - our greatest and winningest athlete of all time. McKeown defended both her 100m and 200m backstroke titles to emerge as the only Aussie to possess four individual golds. And O’Callaghan - by far the youngest of the trio at just 20 - could well surpass them both at Olympics to come after rising to become a household name across the past week-and-a-half. The schedule-concluding medley relay final ended in a silver medal for Australia, with the US taking out the race to eke out an 8-7 victory in the swimming gold medal count for the Games. The result also meant the Aussies couldn’t match their Olympic-best of nine swimming gold medals from Tokyo and eight from Melbourne in 1956. But the lasting memory of the Paris Games will be the legendary feats of McKeown, O’Callaghan and McKeon, as well as four-time gold medallist Ariarne Titmus, as they capped a golden generation of women in the pool. “To think about what we have achieved at the end of this meet is absolutely incredible, and unheard of,” said O’Callaghan, whose highlight came with an epic 200m freestyle victory over fancied teammate Titmus. “Each of us have achieved something extraordinary throughout this meet.” Backstroke great McKeown now possesses nine medals from the nine Olympic finals she’s been a part of, and confessed: “I never thought in a million years that I’d be able to do that.” And while most of the Dolphins team members will put their feet up before beginning to form the initial foundations for a push toward the Los Angeles Games in 2028, McKeon has made a splash on the world stage for the final time. “It definitely hasn’t sunk in for me yet,” the 30-year-old said of her impending retirement. “I think, like everything, it will take a bit of time. “But to jump in the pool with the girls at the end there... that’s something I’ll remember for a really long time.” Even though she now owns an incredible 14 Olympic medals, McKeon said simply being among her teammates as a part of the Aussie swimming unit - the heart and soul of every Games campaign - was what she held most dear. “(The medal tally) is not something I really look at. You just strive for personal bests and I think it’s the whole journey I will remember for the rest of my life,” she said. “It won’t be these medals, it will be all the people and all the lessons.”