| Kai Taylor | |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Birth Date: | 18 August 2003 |
| Birth Place: | South Brisbane, Australia |
| Coach: | Dean Boxall |
Kai Taylor (born 18 August 2003) is an Australian swimmer.[1] He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he won a silver medal.
Taylor is the son of Australian swimming olympic medallist Hayley Lewis.[2]
See main article: 2023 Australian Swimming Trials. Taylor competed in 3 events at 2023 Australian Swimming Trials: the 50 metre, 100 metre and 200 metre freestyle.[3]
On Day 2, Taylor finished 9th in the heats of the 200 m freestyle in 1:48.37. Due to Kyle Chalmers' decision to withdraw from the final, Taylor swam in his place and went on to win the final from lane 8 in 1:46.25.
On Day 4, Taylor qualified for the final of the 100 m freestyle in seventh place, then came fourth in the final in 48.60 s.
On Day 6, Taylor finished 14th in the heats of the 50 m freestyle before winning the B final.
At the end of the meet, it was announced that Taylor was selected in the team for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships to swim the 200 m freestyle individually, as well as the 4 x 100 and freestyle relays.[4] He became the 852nd person to represent Australia in swimming.
See main article: Swimming at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. On Day 1, Taylor swam the third leg of the freestyle relay heat, splitting 47.59 s and qualifying Australia to the final in second. As a result, he was selected to swim the third leg in the final, where his 47.91 s split helped Australia to the gold medal.
On Day 2, Taylor swam the heats of the 200 m freestyle, however he finished 20th and did not progress to the semi finals.
On Day 6, Taylor swam the third leg of the freestyle heat, producing the fastest split in the field of 1:44.59 to qualify Australia to the final in first. In the final, he swam the first leg in 1:45.79 as Australia finished third.
On Day 8, Taylor swam the freestyle leg of the medley relay heat, splitting 47.69 s and qualifying Australia for the final in third place. He was eventually replaced by Kyle Chalmers for the final as he earned a bronze medal.
See main article: Swimming at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. Taylor was selected in the Australian team for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships to swim the 100 metre and 200 metre freestyle events, as well as relays.
In each of his individual events, Taylor advanced to the semi-finals however did not advance to the final.
Due to the reduced team size at the championships, Taylor swam the butterfly leg of the men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay, however the team finished 9th in the heats and did not advance to the final.
In the mixed 4 x 100 freestyle relay, Taylor swam the first leg in both the heat and the final, where he set his personal best time of 48.01 s[5] as Australia won a silver medal.