To call Kaylee McKeown a swimming superstar is an understatement to say the least.
After making her swimming debut on the world stage at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympics, where she took home a gold, silver, and bronze medal, she catapulted herself to further stardom, winning two individual gold medals and one group gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – and that’s all before her 21st birthday.
WATCH NOW: Kaylee McKeown’s world record-breaking moment. Article continues after video.
Most recently, Kaylee competed at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan where she won gold in the women’s 200 metres, 100 metres, and 50 metres backstroke and was also awarded the best female swimmer of the meet.
And in June, she broke the Women’s 200 metres Backstroke world record shaving an impressive 0.21 seconds off the previous record holder.
Speaking with New Idea the day after landing back in Australia from Japan, Kaylee said it was “pretty surreal” to reflect on the huge successes she had experienced as an athlete so far.
“I’ve achieved so much in a short span but in the swimming world, careers are so short, people peak when they are only 15, 16 and only last until their mid-twenties. So really I’m in the middle of my career, if not the back end which is kinda scary.”
“[But] I’m super proud of the person that I’m becoming and I think I’ve [still] got a lot more to learn.”
Curiously, despite her swimming success and status as a triple gold medal Olympian, her place on the Dolphins swimming team at the Paris 2024 Olympics is not guaranteed.
“Australia always has their Olympic trials [for swimming] five to six weeks before an Olympic games, it’s super close and people always ask ‘have you qualified for the Olympics?’ when it’s still years away, and I’m like ‘no, I hope so!'” Kaylee laughs.
On top of all this success, this month Kaylee joined forces with Wahl as an ambassador for the beauty brand’s innovative new range of female shavers and beauty trimmers. Talking about her ambassadorship, Kaylee said she was “very keen” to align herself with Wahl, calling the collaboration “pretty epic.”
And considering how difficult Kaylee says it is to manage a beauty routine as a professional athlete, the partnership is a perfect match!
“When it comes to beauty, it’s so hard to maintain when you’re an athlete, especially with the chlorine, it absolutely singes your skin and your eyebrows – and hair that you have really!” Kaylee tells us.
“Partnering with Wahl just adds that extra level of ease. With the clippers and trimmers, you just whip it out and buzz over [where you would like to remove hair]. You don’t even have to wet your legs, you can just do it anywhere!”
And what about the rest of her beauty routine?
With an intense training schedule that Kaylee herself describes as “pretty full on” – consisting of nine in-pool sessions, two spin classes, and three gym workouts – finding time for self-care can be a challenge.
“For me, NAK products, especially the leave-in conditioner, [are my holy grail products]. It sounds gross but we can’t wash our hair every day because the [swimming] caps would just fall off my head, so every afternoon I’m always rinsing my hair to clean it and putting in the deep conditioner which makes my hair smell no nice.”
“Moisturiser is the second biggest thing for me. The chlorine just dries my skin out that much and even exfoliates my skin for me.”
“Dermal lip balm and Rawleigh’s Medicated Ointment too! Rawleigh’s comes in a huge tinned jarred which is inconvenient to carry around but it is the best. It clears your nose, sinuses, and everything. It’s ‘chef’s kiss’.”
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