SYDNEY, Nov 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Swimmer Emma McKeon, Australia's most
decorated Olympian and an eight-time world-record holder, retired from the
sport on Monday aged 30.

McKeon won 14 Olympic medals, six of them gold, over the Rio, Tokyo and Paris
Games this summer.

"Today I am officially retiring from competitive swimming," she said on
Instagram, along with a collage of clips showcasing her many career
highlights.

"Leading into Paris I knew it would be my last Olympics and the months since
have given me time to reflect on my journey and think about what I wanted my
future to look like in swimming," she said.

It was at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 that McKeon really made her
name, winning an unsurpassed seven medals to join the all-time swimming
greats.

Her four gold and three bronze bettered the six won by East German Kristin
Otto (1952) and American Natalie Coughlin (2008).

It also matched the record for most decorated woman athlete at a single
Games, tied with Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya (1952).

A versatile and tenacious freestyle and butterfly racer, her career had
looked in jeopardy after failing to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic team.

Instead, she went on to become her country's most honoured Olympian -- a
field with plenty of competition given Australia's swimming prowess.

"I am proud of myself for giving my swimming career absolutely everything,
both physically and mentally," she said on Monday.

"I wanted to see what I was capable of -- and I did."

Born in Wollongong in New South Wales, McKeon, whose excellence was matched
by her humility, had heritage in the pool with her father Ron swimming at the
1980 and 1984 Olympics.

McKeon's mother Susie swam at the 1982 Commonwealth Games while her brother
David competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, with Emma and David becoming
the first brother and sister to swim for Australia at the same Games in 56
years.

"She was and will continue to be a great role model for younger athletes,"
said Australian swim team head coach Rohan Taylor.

"She always carried herself with dignity and while we all saw her grace the
public can not truly appreciate how tough she is.

"Emma is a fierce competitor and she pushed herself through so many
challenges during her career."

Australia's Olympic Committee hailed her for consistently "setting the
standard for excellence" while Swimming Australia said he would remembered in
the same vein as greats like Dawn Fraser and Ian Thorpe.

"She will also be remembered for how she represented swimming," said Swimming
Australia chief Rob Woodhouse, McKeon's uncle.

"The standards she set in and out of the water were second to none and she
has a lifelong love of the sport so she won't be disappearing from swimming."