Australian Olympian Emma McKeon and fellow Olympian sibling David McKeon ran a swim clinic recently with the Yass Swim Club.

Race Secretary Kellie Deery, who organised the visit said it was great and the kids seemed to really enjoy it.

“They had the kids in the water doing some drills and just shared some of their tips and tricks with the kids,” Kel- lie said. “Mainly freestyle and butterfly, because that’s their specialist strokes from both [Emma and David].”

“I think just having them there was pretty amazing.”

For those who aren’t familiar, Emma McKeon set the Tokyo Olympic pool alight last year, winning seven medals – four of them gold – including the 50 and 100m freestyle double – her first major individual gold medals.

Emma is a prolific medallist – winning 17 medals at the last four World Championships – four gold, nine silver and four bronze medals – and is a mainstay in all four Australian relays.

Meanwhile, David McKeon is a two-time Olympic swimmer competing at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. At the Rio games, he and his sister Emma became the first brother/sister duo to represent Australia swimming since 1960.

Emma and David, whose family own McKeon Swim School in Wollongong, took plenty of photos with the kids and were happy to hand out autographs.

“I think just their presence was really uplifting for the kids and to have world-class swimmers there was really amazing.”

Kellie said both Emma and David were very interactive and excellent with the kids, sharing stories about growing up and how they developed as swimmers.

They were very gracious with their time answering all of the kids’ questions including one to Emma – ‘Who do you admire or look up to?’ – to which she answered, her parents.

“It was pretty surreal really having them there,” Kellie said. “If you’re into swimming, it was pretty amazing having them there.”

Kellie described the pair as “incredibly humble and down-to-earth people”.

That celebrity visit was the last swim clinic for the season as the YSC starts to wrap up for winter.

The club previously hosted Olympic silver medallist James Magnussen with a similarly glowing review.

The clinics will kick off again next season and the club will look at setting up another specialty clinic.

By Brianna O’Rourke