FUKUOKA, Japan: Australia's Kaylee McKeown won the women's 100m backstroke title at swimming's world championships on Tuesday.
McKeown came home in 57.53sec to beat Regan Smith of the United States on 57.78 and American Katharine Berkoff on 58.25.
"It means a lot -- I've had a hard 48 hours but it was great being amongst these girls and being against the Americans," said McKeown.
"They bring out the best. I loved every minute of it."
The race had been billed as a first showdown between Olympic gold-medallist and world record-holder McKeown and defending world champion Smith.
Between them, the pair hold the six fastest times ever in the event, although McKeown owns the top three.
McKeown sounded a warning shot by swimming the third-fastest time ever at the Australian trials last year.
McKeown was disqualified from her 200m individual medley semi-final on Sunday after an illegal transition from backstroke to breaststroke.
"If you're not learning, you're not growing, so I had to find a positive and a negative and that's exactly what I did," she said.
"I channelled it and made it work." -- AFP