The 27-year-old is looking to become the fastest female swimmer in history and claim the world record in the 100 metres freestyle.

It's a goal that comes after McKeon took out the event in Tokyo with an Olympic record and swept the pool with a historic seven medals at the Games.

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Along with the 100m freestyle triumph, the Wollongong star won the 50m freestyle final and finished third in the 100m butterfly. On top of that, she claimed two relay gold and two relay bronze to become Australia's most successful Olympian of all time.

In swimming a time of 51.96 seconds, McKeon became just the second woman to break the historic 52-second barrier and edged closer to Sarah Sjostrom's world record of 51.71.

With a desire to push on until the 2024 Paris Olympics, McKeon has that mark in her sights.

"I hope to break that world record one day, that's definitely a goal," McKeon told the Mercury. "I feel like I'm improving a lot and feel like I've got more to give.

"At the moment, I'm proud of what I've done. To be the second person to go below 52 is a cool achievement. It's only me and one other, there are only two swims below that time so to be part of that field is pretty special."

At 27-years-old, McKeon is a veteran in the youthful world of swimming and could easily retire today and be classed among the sport's greatest athletes.

With that long-sought after individual gold medal now proudly hanging around her neck, the Illawarra talent is able to move into a new phase of her career.

Now, every time McKeon dives into the pool, she does so to enjoy herself. How long, exactly, that will last, she doesn't know, but the swimmer is eager to keep going as long as it does.

"I'm still enjoying my swimming, so I'll keep working hard and we'll see what happens in the future.

"I will keep going as long as I'm still enjoying it. I still have areas I know I can improve and can go faster. That's what motivates me to push my body every day. If I didn't have those things, it would be pretty hard to keep pushing myself."

While her focus will soon turn to Paris, McKeon has a more immediate target on her radar. The International Swimming League.

Backed by Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin, the competition was pushed by Cate Campbell and led to a seismic shift in the sport's global structure, with significant prizemoney on offer for swimmers.

McKeon emerged as a crucial member of the London Roar during the ISL's inaugural season in 2019 and she's eager to return for this year's series.

The swimmer flies to Europe early next month to link up with a team led by British breaststroke star Adam Peaty and features Cate and Bronte Campbell and Kyle Chalmers.

"Going over to the ISL will be a lot of fun," McKeon said.

"It's more team focused and I have people from all over the world on my team. It's a different environment, the Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport and had such a huge buildup to it.

"This is totally different, I'm excited to go over there and be part of the London Roar and those relays and race for the team again."

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