American swimmer Regan Smith won her third silver medal of the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 200-meter backstroke on Friday, losing again to Australian rival Kayleigh McKeon.
Smith and McKeon battled it out in the 100-meter backstroke on Tuesday, with Australia’s McKeon overtaking Smith in the final straight to win the gold medal.
A similar situation unfolded in the 200-meter backstroke final on Friday, with Smith getting off to a strong start and hitting the wall ahead of her competitors in both the 100-meter and 150-meter dashes.
The American, who had already won silver in the 200-meter butterfly on Thursday, was eliminated entirely in lane seven after swimming her semifinal and entering the final as the sixth seed.
McKeon, who was in the middle of the pool as the No. 2 seed, made a run on the third lap and came into the final wall just 0.18 seconds behind Smith.
When they finished, McKeon won with a time of 2 minutes, 3.73 seconds.
McKeon has established a continuous dominance in the backstroke over the past two Summer Olympics, winning gold medals in the 100 and 200 backstroke at both the Tokyo and Paris Games.
The Australian also set a new world record in the 200m backstroke in 2023 with a time of 2 minutes 3.14 seconds.
2024 Paris Olympics
“I think I may have tried a little too hard in the race,” McKeon said after Friday’s race. “I was pretty nervous tonight. I’m not one to get overly nervous, but I was probably more anxious than anything, so I just went in there and tried my hardest.”
American swimmer Missy Franklin clocked a staggering 2 minutes 4.06 seconds at the 2012 London Games, which still holds the Olympic record.
Smith now has five silver medals and one bronze medal in Olympic competitions.
“I’m not really worried about the number of medals or what I have to do to win a certain color medal,” Smith told reporters after winning silver in the butterfly on Thursday. “If I get too hung up on the color of the medal or anything like that, I think it will fall apart.”
The 22-year-old holds the American record, having run a time of 2 minutes 3.35 seconds at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, at just 17 years old.
She placed third at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials behind Ryan White and Phoebe Bacon, missing out on qualifying for the games in Tokyo.
Bacon was seeded top for Friday’s final but finished fourth in a time of 2 minutes 5.61 seconds, just 0.04 seconds behind Tokyo silver medalist Kylie Masse of Canada.
Bacon improved on his result in Tokyo, where he placed fifth, just 0.01 seconds behind White, at the last Olympics.
McKeon will compete again in the 200 individual medley semifinals on Friday with a shot at a spot in the final on Saturday.
She will be up against American swimmers Alex Walsh and Kate Douglas, who won silver and bronze medals at the Tokyo Games.
