Born and raised in Wollongong, Emma McKeon comes from a rich swimming pedigree. Her father Ron swam at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games and won four Commonwealth Games gold medals. Her mother Susie was a Commonwealth Games swimmer and her brother, Rob Woodhouse, swam at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, winning bronze in Los Angeles. Her brother David is a dual Olympian and won silver in Rio.

Emma McKeon was part of the Illawarra Academy of Sport Swim Squad in her teen years, graduating in 2010 and winning the DRB Group Tobin Family Award for IAS Athlete of the Year.

Emma competed at the 2010 inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore where she took home one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

After narrowly missing selection for the London 2012 Olympic Games, McKeon took a hiatus from the sport before rediscovering her passion for swimming and making her senior international debut at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she claimed six medals from six races: four gold and two bronze.

The Wollongong native was Australia’s most successful swimmer at the Rio 2016 Games. In her Olympic debut, McKeon took home one gold, two silver and bronze.