Australian Olympic swimmer Kayley McKeown knows a thing or two about creating a buzz, and she’s not about to let her boyfriend make some of his own.
McCune, 24, went viral on Tuesday, May 26, after posting a video of her boyfriend cleaning up urine stains on the bathroom floor.
“I let him clean up the pee mess,” she wrote above a video showing her boyfriend, former professional footballer Declan Watson, hosing down the floor in front of the toilet. The extent of Watson’s damage is not yet clear, but judging from the amount of water he used, it appears he does not have aspirations of becoming an Olympic marksman.
McCune is a five-time Olympic gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Games. Known as perhaps the greatest backstroker of all time, she holds several world records in backstroke.
She and Watson went public with their relationship in August 2025, posting a photo of them together from the famous Uluru Rock in Australia’s Northern Territory.
“If it’s not on your bucket list, you should definitely add @exploreuluru #justwow,” McCune captioned a photo of a merry-go-round, preceded by a photo of one of the couple posing arm in arm.
It’s unclear when the pair started dating, but their relationship began after McCune split from her long-term boyfriend, fellow Australian swimmer Brendon Smith. She and Smith, 25, began dating in 2021 and appeared to be still together during the Paris Olympics, where Smith also competed.
McCune has already announced that the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will be his last, but he intends to compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In a March interview with Australia’s Channel 7, she said she was already preparing for her third Summer Olympics.
Olympic gold medalists Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe have been together for nearly a decade. The two met backstage at a photo shoot for the 2016 Rio Olympics. “She was wearing a basketball uniform and her hair was down,” Rapinoe told NBC in 2021.
“I think it would be nerve-wracking and unsettling to step into an atmosphere where two of my biggest competitors, world record holder (Regan) Smith and Katherine Berkoff, are American,” she said.
Regan Smith, 24, currently holds the world record for the 100m backstroke, but McCune is looking to change that.
“I want to get my world record back in the 100 meters,” she said.
McCune also revealed that she was battling shoulder issues, including a torn labrum, in the run-up to the last Olympics, but she still managed to win five medals, including golds in the 100m and 200m backstroke.
“We’re just getting by (for Olympic selection in June), but as we get older we keep getting more and more injuries,” she explained. “I’m making plans to get to LA.”
