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In her recent social media update, Emma McKeon shared glimpses of her vacation with her sister Kaitlin. With 14 Olympic medals, McKeon sits at the top of the Australian throne with the most titles won by an athlete. Emma bid adieu to professional swimming last year and recently enjoyed a post-retirement vacation in New Zealand.
After missing the 2012 Olympics qualification by one place, Emma's debut in the Olympics came at Rio in 2016, where she won four medals. A gold medal in 4x100 metres freestyle relay, a silver in 4x100 metres medley relay, another silver in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay and a bronze in 200 metres freestyle. She won a total of seven medals in the Tokyo Olympics, including four gold. In her last Olympics, Emma won a gold and silver medal to achieve a legendary status in sports.
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The 30-year-old Australian retired after the 2024 Paris Games. She recently visited New Zealand for the first time in her life as she enjoyed a vacation with her sister after 10 years. She shared a bunch of pictures from the trip in her Instagram post on Thursday and wrote in the caption:
"My sister @kaitlinmckeon and I just spent the last week travelling around the South Island of New Zealand. My first time in NZ and our first holiday together in 10 years."
The Australian Ambassador for UNICEF, Emma McKeon, has kept herself busy and has visited underprivileged countries like Bangladesh and helped UNICEF raise funds for those in need.
Emma McKeon reflecting on the pressure and her advice to young athletes
The 14-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist reflected upon her glorious career in an interview with Vogue Australia on April 4, 2025. Emma McKeon told Remy Rippon about the pressure that she put upon herself as a 'perfectionist'. She said:
"Put simply, the pressure was too much. It wasn’t from my parents, former elite swimmers who understood more than anyone the demands of competitive sport, but the unrelenting standard I put upon myself. I was a perfectionist. In my mind, near enough was never good enough. I had to be doing the best times and the best training sessions all the time. This persistence came to a head when I was 18 and I retired after missing out on a place, by just one spot, on the 2012 Olympic team."
McKeon is an inspiration for athletes from all over the world. The standard that she had for herself made her the best in her sport. For McKeon, strong passion, strong drive and desire to work will always get you closer to your goals. Talking to Olympics.com in March 2024, she had some important advice to give:
"My message would be to not be afraid of the time it will take to achieve your goals. And just to remember that the time is going to pass. So you may as well use that time to work on what you want and those big goals. Don’t be afraid to dream big and have big goals and big dreams."
At the age of 30, Emma McKeon is now settling into her retirement, taking up new adventures and spending more quality time with her loved ones.
