Day three of Olympic swimming competition in Tokyo is over, with Australia striking gold once again with Kaylee McKeown in the 100m backstroke.
While there was disappointment for Mitch Larkin – who missed a medal in the men’s 100m backstroke – these are the three key takeaways from another big day in the pool:
More Aussie gold as McKeown backs up trial form on the big stage
McKeown is an Olympic champion, becoming the first Aussie female to win a gold medal in backstroke at this level.
The 20-year-old won the 100m backstroke final in a scintillating Olympic record time of 57:47, beating American Regan Smith and Canadian Kyle Masse.
McKeown has a stacked program to come, including the 200m backstroke which she enters as one of the gold medal contenders.
Titmus remains on track for second individual gold
Ariarne Titmus’ golden run in Tokyo shows no sign of slowing down.
Just 24 hours after dethroning American Kate Ledecky in the 400m freestyle final, she was back in the pool for the 200m semi-finals where she qualified fastest for Wednesday's final.
The Aussie will go in as the hot favourite against Ledecky after storming home in the final 100 metres of her semi-final.
Let’s not forget Madison Wilson – who will form a crucial cog of Australia’s 4x200 freestyle team later in the week – who snuck into eighth spot to take the final place in tomorrow’s final.
The gold rush shows no sign of slowing down
While it may have been five years ago, the disappointment Australia felt in the pool in Rio is still fresh in the memory.
But after only three days of swimming finals in Tokyo, there’s a distinctly gold glow around this crop of Aussie swimmers.
The best news is there’s still plenty of gold medal chances to come, including Cate Campbell and Emma McKeon (50m and 100m freestyle), Kyle Chalmers (100m freestyle) and Titmus (200m freestyle).
