Kai Taylor (born 18 August 2003) is an Australian swimmer.^[1] He won two medals the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Taylor is the son of Australian swimming Olympic medallist Hayley Lewis.^[2]

Taylor competed at the 2023 Australian Trials in Melbourne. He finished ninth in the 200 m freestyle heats, initially missing the A final. However, he was promoted to the A final after Kyle Chalmers, the fastest qualifier, withdrew. Taylor finished first from lane 8, recording a time of 1:46.25.^[3] He later came fourth in the 100 m freestyle with a time of 48.60.^[4] These performances qualified him for the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka.^[5]

In Fukuoka, Taylor's first event was the 4×100 m freestyle relay. He swam the third leg and split 47.91. Australia won the gold medal in a final time of 3:10.16.^[6] His next event was the 200 m freestyle, where he recorded a time of 1:46.94 to finish twentieth in the heats. In the 4×200 m freestyle relay, Taylor swam the third leg in the heats, splitting 1:44.56.^[7] He swam the first leg in the final with a split of 1:45.79. Australia won the bronze medal with an overall time of 7:02.13.^[8] Taylor's final event was the 4×100 m medley relay, where he swam the freestyle leg in the heats.^[9] He was replaced by Chalmers in the final and Australia ultimately won the bronze medal.^[10]

Taylor competed at the 2024 World Championships in Doha. He went 1:46.37 in the 200 m freestyle to finish ninth.^[11] He then competed in the 100 m freestyle, finishing thirteenth in a time of 48.50.^[12] His final event was the mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay, where he split 48.01 on the first leg, winning the silver medal in a time of 3:21.78.^[13]

Taylor qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. He swam in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, splitting 47.72 on the third leg to move Australia into fourth place at the 300 m mark. Australia eventually won the silver medal in a time of 3:10.35. Taylor later competed in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and split 1:47.60 on the first leg.^[14] He was replaced in the final, and Australia eventually won the bronze medal.^[15]

At the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, Taylor competed in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. He swam the second leg and split 47.04 to keep Australia in second place at the 200 m mark. Australia won the gold medal in a championship and Australian record time of 3:08.97.^[16] Taylor then swam the third leg of the 4×200 m freestyle relay. Australia was in fourth place at the 400 m mark, but a 1:44.64 split from Taylor moved the team to third place upon the completion of his leg. Australia won bronze in a time of 7:00.98.^[17]

• Kai Taylor at World Aquatics 👁 Edit this at Wikidata
  
• Kai Taylor at Swimming Australia
• Kai Taylor at the Australian Olympic Committee
• Kai Taylor at Olympics.com