Olympic Swimming 2021: Women's 100M Backstroke Medal Winners, Times and Results

Kaylee McKeown continued the terrific performance for the Australian women at the Tokyo Olympics by winning the 100-meter backstroke crown on Monday night. 

The 20-year-old set a new Olympic record of 57.47 seconds to beat out a handful of gold-medal contenders, including a pair of Americans. 

McKeown's win clinched the third gold medal for Australia in the women's swimming events. Ariarne Titmus won the 400-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter freestyle team claimed gold. 

The event was not a total disappointment for the United States, who added to their swimming medal haul with a bronze out of Regan Smith. 

The 19-year-old took third place behind McKeown and Kylie Masse from Canada. The first two placers finished the race inside 58 seconds.

Results

1. Kaylee McKeown, Australia: 57.47 (Olympic record)

2. Kylie Masse, Canada: 57.72

3. Regan Smith, United States: 58.05

4. Rhyan White, United States: 58.43

5. Emily Seebohm, Australia: 58.45

6. Kathleen Dawson, Great Britain: 58.70

7. Kira Toussaint, Netherlands: 59.11

8. Anastasia Gorbenko, Israel: 59.53

Highlights

McKeown broke the Olympic record in the 100-meter backstroke that was set in the qualifying rounds by Smith. 

The Australian, who is also in possession of the world record in the event, went from third to first in the final 50 meters. 

Masse won the race to the wall in the first 50 meters by swimming a split of 27.91 seconds, which was three-tenths better than McKeown, who produced a strong turn and bested the Canadian by over half of a second in the race back to the finish line. 

McKeown was just two-hundredths of a second off the world-record time she set at the Australian Olympic trials on June 13. 

She entered the final with one of three qualifying times under 58.15, while Masse and Smith came into the race with faster times and landed behind her in the top three. 

Masse held on to second place despite giving up the advantage in the final 50 meters to McKeown. The 25-year-old gave Canada its third overall silver medal in Tokyo. 

All but one of Canada's five medals in Japan have come from aquatic events. It has a gold and two silvers from swimming and diving. 

Smith added to the growing American medal haul in the pool with her third-place finish. With the addition of her bronze and the third-place finish for Ryan Murphy in the men's 100-meter backstroke, the United States now has 10 swimming medals.