Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from the local news teams of the ACM network, which stretches into every state and territory. Today's is written by Illawarra Mercury deputy editor Janine Graham.
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![Emma McKeon wraps her arms around lead-off swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan after Australia won the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympics. Picture AAP Emma McKeon wraps her arms around lead-off swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan after Australia won the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympics. Picture AAP](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GJZ5TVpAk84wrTzsQfLQRB/52be8149-43aa-4f86-ae10-c968bf9c0b9f.jpg/r0_0_3401_2267_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Emma McKeon is now Australia's most successful Olympian having won relay gold overnight - taking her personal all-time tally to 12 medals.
In entirely fitting fashion the 30-year-old, born and bred in Wollongong, NSW, took that mantle from the great Ian Thorpe as a member of the 4x100m freestyle relay team.
The team of Mollie O'Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris maintained Australia's domination of the US and China in Olympic record time - 3:28.92.
On the first night of the swimming program in Paris, McKeon eclipsed swimming superstar Ian Thorpe's tally when she won her 12th Olympic medal - and half of them have been gold.
"Wow, I don't keep track of that kind of stuff," McKeon said on the Nine Network. "I hear it from you guys, it's an honour.
"To be a part of this 4100 is extremely hard. This is a team of six. We couldn't do it without this group of six.
"It's been a rough couple of years, especially this year and I definitely had my doubts and I really wanted to be part of this swim tonight."
![Emma McKeon at training. Picture by Delly Carr/Swimming Australia Emma McKeon at training. Picture by Delly Carr/Swimming Australia](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GJZ5TVpAk84wrTzsQfLQRB/8ca01702-acba-4533-afaa-08dd0c80eb41.JPG/r0_249_4880_3003_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
As fate would have it, Thorpe was commenting on the race in the La Defense Arena.
"I thought Emma had surpassed me after the Tokyo Olympic Games," Thorpe said on Nine.
"I think she had more silver medals than me or more bronze medals than what I had. At that exact point, I think she takes over that title of being Australia's most successful Olympian.
"Couldn't happen to a better person, really."
Wind the clock back on McKeon's career
It was Australia's fourth straight win in the relay and McKeon's been a starter in three of those teams.
McKeon clocked 52.39 for her two-lap third leg in the Paris final. Collectively, Australia recorded the second-fastest time in history.
It was a successful first night of full-blown competition for Australia with Arianne Titmus winning a thrilling 400m freestyle gold and cyclist Grace Brown doing the same in the individual time trial.
'It's just persisting'
It is far removed from 12 years ago, when McKeon narrowly missed selection for the London Games and considered retiring from the sport.
"If I look back at that young (person) - I think I was 17 when I missed London - you couldn't have told her that I was going to go on to do this," she said.
"It's just persisting, you have up and you have downs. You just keep going along and you keep ticking the boxes. I can't believe where I'm at right now."
But there is little mystery for McKeon about why the Australian 4x100 freestyle women have won the last four Olympic gold medals.
"As the years go on, the standard gets higher and higher. You look at the history of this event for Australia, everyone wants to be part of that," she said.
"The bar keeps raising, that's probably what brings the strength to this team."
McKeon continues her Paris campaign on Sunday in the 100m butterfly.
She is likely to also feature in the 4x100m medley relay and the 4x100 mixed medley relay.