There are not too many teenagers who want to emulate everything their mum did.
But if Kai Taylor can repeat his national title heroics in two months’ time to win a berth at the world championships in the event his famous mother won more than 30 years ago, he will be thrilled.
Taylor, the son of 1991 world champion and triple Olympian Hayley Lewis, held off a fast-finishing field to win the 200m freestyle at the national championships on the Gold Coast on Tuesday night – the event in which Lewis won her only individual world championship.
“I’m sure she would be bawling her eyes out up in a stand somewhere,” Taylor said of Lewis’s reaction if he lines up in the event at the world championships in Fukuoka later this year.
“But you know, even if I went to a world champs and came dead last, she wouldn’t care at all.”
Triple Olympian Lewis is one of Australia’s greatest swimmers.
And while Taylor, whose father Greg Taylor also swam with Lewis under legendary coach Joe King, said his famous mum’s exploits would lead to some external expectation, none of it came from the home front.
“Obviously, there’s always going to be a little bit of – I don’t want to call it pressure – but there’s always going to be that little bit of (talk), ‘Oh, you’re Hayley Lewis’s son, you should be talented enough to go out there’,” Taylor said.
“But if I said to (mum and dad) … I didn’t want to swim anymore, they are more than happy to do whatever I’m happy with.
“The whole (Lewis) name, it doesn’t really bother me.
“I’m so proud of what she’s achieved and what she did and I want to hopefully be like her one day.
“I wouldn’t say that having the Hayley Lewis name is any pressure at all really, I use it as more fuel.”
Taylor led from the start in the final, holding off a challenge from teen tyro Flynn Southam in the final 50m, with Olympian Alex Graham also challenging.
The final was swum without Kyle Chalmers, who pulled out to concentrate on his 100m later in the carnival, while Sam Short also withdrew with his pet 1500m later in the night.
Taylor, the fastest qualifier for the final, was slightly disappointed not to go head-to-head with Chalmers but he held off the “Big Tuna” in the heats in an effort that will hold him in good stead heading into June’s world championship trials.
For now, he is one step closer to a senior team berth.
And daring to dream.
“I’m sure if I was to win a world champs in the 200 free, (mum) would be absolutely ecstatic,” he said.
“And that would be an awesome story – mother and son, world champion 200 freestylers.”
In other events, Kaylee McKeown won the 100m backstroke in 57.90, less than half a second outside her world record and a strong effort in the blustery conditions at the outdoor Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.
“I mean it’s tough conditions swimming outdoors,” McKeown said.
“I know I train here but it’s hard to see the lane rope and you can see a lot of us backstrokers zigzagging and sitting on the lane rope, which is exactly what I did tonight.
“It’ll be interesting to see what we can all do when we’re a little bit fresher (and) an indoor pool.”
McKeown said she was still settling in to a rhythm with coach Michael Bohl after changing squads just over a year ago and “it’s nice to see the rock I’ve been chipping away at break”.
With less than half an hour between the 400m individual medley and the 100m backstroke on the program, McKeown bypassed the longer event
Jenna Forrester turned in a scintillating swim in her absence, becoming the third-fastest swimmer in Australian history after hitting the wall in 4:35.05 – a time only Olympic champion Stephanie Rice and backstroke star McKeown have bettered.
McKeown may tackle the event at the world championship trials given it is on the final day of the program – but it won’t be her choice.
“I do dread the 400m … to do that extra 400m at the end of the program is going to kill me, so if you do see me doing it, it’s not my choice,” she said.
Shayna Jack made up for a blunder at the end of the 100m on the opening night of competition, touching the wall on a full stroke to win the 50m in 24.45 a tenth of a second ahead of Olympic relay champion Meg Harris (24.55).
“It was just too good to get my hand on the wall first.
“Last night was a bit disappointing just because I made the wrong decision. So it’s nice to correct it tonight and get my hand on the wall first,” Jack said of her decision to glide in, in the 100m final rather than take an extra stroke, something she regretted after losing to clubmate Mollie O’Callaghan by just 0.01sec.
Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook won the 200m breaststroke well outside his world record, while Lizzie Dekkers was first to the wall in the 200m butterfly in the second-fastest time in the world this year.
Ariarne Titmus admits it initially “sucked” to see her world record broken but feels honoured that she is playing her part in a writing a script that is drawing fans to swimming.
Rising star Summer McIntosh broke Titmus’s 400m freestyle world record at the Canadian world championship trials just over a fortnight ago to become the biggest threat to the Australian’s Olympic defence.
And while Titmus was naturally disappointed, she was revelling in the opportunity to be a part of swimming history in a race that will be one of the most highly anticipated and promoted at both this year’s world championships and next year’s Olympics.
The Aussie’s showdown with Katie Ledecky over 400m was one of the most hyped races at the Tokyo Olympics and with McIntosh now in the mix, the three fastest women in history are set to go head-to-head in Paris next year, with each determined to come out on top.
“Initially it sucks,” Titmus said of her immediate feeling at finding out McIntosh had broken her mark.
“You break a world record and you’re kind of naive in thinking it’s going to stand for a while.
“But world records are there to be broken, it means that the world of swimming is moving forward – and I think it just makes it more exciting for our event.
“I would love to be a fan of swimming right now.
“I don’t think that there’s ever been a race where there’s three women swimming so fast at the same time.
“And I think that that’s very cool to watch.”
Titmus may be a two-time Olympic gold medallist and one of Australia’s most marketable athletes but she’s also still the kid from Tassie who is a fierce competitor that just loves swimming.
So it’s not lost on her how special this rivalry is – for both the athletes involved and the sport.
“I feel very honoured that I’m a part of that,” she said.
“I never ever thought growing up that I would be a part of something that’s probably going to be a part of swimming history.
“I just love something and go out there and do my best and all of this is really a bonus now.
“I’ve achieved everything I wanted to achieve in my swimming career. My motivation now is what I can get out of myself and I truly believe that I have more to offer the sport and I still love the sport.
“And that’s really why I’m swimming.”
Competing at the Australian swimming championships on the Gold Coast this week, Titmus is not in record-breaking form.
Apart from just having finished a massive training block with Dean Boxall’s squad, Titmus is still shrugging off the effects of a virus – not that it could stop her from winning the 800m comfortably on the opening night of competition.
Titmus knows that the swimming world will analyse her Gold Coast performances – especially in the 400m.
But she is content to run her own race.
“I want to get confidence out of my racing from this meet,” she said.
“I tend to now go into every swim without an expectation.
“I think that I swim my best when I don’t set targets, I think it’s more about setting a plan of what I want to do in the race and then trying to execute that the best I can.
“So I would love to be under four minutes for 400m but we’ll see how I go.”
After all, plenty have crumbled in the vice-like pressure of the world championship or Olympic final.
Times often go out the window.
“I think at that point in time, it’s who can handle it on the day – everything surrounding the race,” Titmus said.
“Olympics is not really about how fast you swim, it’s about who can get their hand on the wall first on the day.
“You tend to not really see many world records broken at the Olympics compared to other meets because of the high stakes, I guess. So it’s who can really keep their head switched on in the important moments.”
