David McKeon remembers the moment clearly.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With his family in London to watch him compete at the 2012 Olympic Games, he saw a sparkle in his younger sister's eye.
Then 18, Emma's interest in swimming had started to wane after she narrowly missed the Australian team.
But having the chance to witness the Olympics first-hand was all she needed to ignite that fire within.
"I went into those Games with wide eyes," David said. "I didn't take it for granted but it was so cool and I just went along on the journey.
"Emma didn't compete at those Olympics, she came to watch with the whole family. I like to think I inspired her to get back in the pool after she started swimming again at the back-end of 2012."
Not only will McKeon compete in her second Games, she will arrive in Tokyo as one of Australia's top medal contenders.
The Wollongong product has spent the past nine years building towards this point, her results steadily improving as she has matured both physically and mentally.
She was young ... and still figuring out what she wanted for her life
- Ron McKeon
A relay swimmer at the 2013 World Championships, McKeon broke through with a six-medal haul at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
A trip to Rio followed two years later, where she claimed four medals, including relay gold.
For father Ron, an Olympic swimmer in his own right, McKeon always possessed the qualities needed to compete at the Games.
"For her it was just figuring out if swimming was what she wanted to do," Ron said. "It's as simple as that and as complicated as that.
"She was young, 18-years-old and still figuring out what she wanted for her life.
"It was six months after the 2012 Olympics that she decided to take it year by year.
"She made the 2013 World Championships team in Barcelona and that was basically the beginning of her career in the Australian team."
Even with all her success over the past eight years, McKeon's reserved nature has allowed her to stay out of the spotlight. Instead, as the likes of Cate and Bronte Campbell have generated headlines, she was content to fly under the radar.
McKeon's performances this year have made that possible no more, and the external expectations for gold in Tokyo have only grown.
The swimmer has emerged as a star in 2021 and will contest the 50 metres and 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly along with four relays.
While some athletes struggle to handle the pressure, David said he's seen no change in his sister's mindset as the Olympics have approached.
"Different things work for different people," David said. "For some people being confident and loud works, for others just plugging along and doing your thing works.
"We had an old training partner Therese Alshammar who was a quiet achiever. She won a few Olympic medals but she was similar to Emma in she didn't want to make much fuss. Therese just enjoyed swimming and the journey of going to an Olympics and Emma idolised people like her."
We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.