Kyle Chalmers is obsessive about gold, but the last few years have taught him the value of silver linings.
In and out of the pool, Chalmers has negotiated the smooth with a variety of rough; some of which left him questioning if he even wanted to continue swimming.
But in dealing with the turbulence of things such as multiple heart and shoulder surgeries, and a frenzied media storm around his relationships with Cody Simpson and Emma McKeon, Chalmers has come out the other side stronger – physically and mentally.
“It has been an interesting year, but it’s been a year of growth,” Chalmers said.
“For me, come Paris [Olympics] I will be completely bulletproof after going through something like this year. I feel like I have ticked every box of what challenges can come at me, and I know I will be able to deal with them better going forward.”
Winning a second Olympic gold in 2024 is a major goal, but before that rolls around Chalmers is aiming to complete a full deck in the 100m freestyle by winning world championships in both the short-course (25m pool) and long-course (50m pool) formats.
Kyle Chalmers ahead of another World Cup win in Indiana.Credit:Getty
With Romanian sensation David Popovici breaking the world record in August and joining Chalmers and Tokyo gold medallist Caeleb Dressel as the big dogs, the swimming world is already drooling about the July world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
But before that, Chalmers will spearhead the Australian team at the world short-course championships in Melbourne next month (December 13-18), which were relocated in May after Kazan, Russia, was stripped of the hosting rights.
It is the first swimming world championships in Australia of any kind since 2007 and, on all evidence, it’s hard to see Chalmers not ticking the short-course world title box. The 24-year-old is the world record holder in the 100m freestyle, after clocking a powerhouse 44.84 seconds last year in Russia. He is one of only three men to break 45 seconds.
After racing in short-course World Cup meets for the past few months in Germany, Canada and the US, Chalmers is unbeaten over 100m and will be the raging hot favourite.
Kyle Chalmers signals for silence after winning gold in the Commonwealth Games. He later said the media focus on his relationships with Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson affected his mental health.Credit:Getty
“The 100 freestyle is my baby and something I have achieved so much in over the years,” Chalmers said.
“I have been the Australian champion, the Oceania champion, the junior world champion, the Commonwealth champion, the Olympic champion … but there are two more things I want to achieve, which is the world short-course championship and then the [long-course] world championship. I have two big boxes I want to tick so I can retire happily. So, I get the opportunity to tick one of those boxes off in front of a home crowd, and to have my family up in the crowd will mean the world to me.”
While it still involves a pool, blocks and lane ropes, short-course racing is almost a different sport to long course, particularly in sprint events. With twice as many laps required, a swimmer’s “skills” – diving, turns and underwater ability – are just as important as their fitness and technique. In a frenetic, four-lap, 100m race, Chalmers will use as few as eight swimming strokes a lap and 60 per cent of the race is underwater.
“The biggest difference is you get 15 metres underwater, so in long course that’s 30 metres, but in short course it is close to 60 metres underwater with your butterfly kicks,” he said.
“So you have got to have a really good butterfly kick and you have to have three really good turns.”
It’s here where the silver linings kick in for Chalmers, too. In the past few years, he has been plagued with chronic shoulder injuries. There was surgery on both at the end of 2020 and 2021. The injuries have been so painful Chalmers “feels 40 most days”.
During long periods where he couldn’t swim, however, Chalmers poured all his efforts into core and leg strength and mastering his underwater dolphin kick, in particular.
“For me, I would always win races by being the fittest or the strongest or the fastest kind of person in the race,” he said. “But now I am able to win races because my skills are a whole lot better than what they used to be, and they’re right up there with the best in the world.
“It is something I pride myself on now, my dive and my turns and my underwater fly kicks. It has improved a huge amount in the last two-year period. ”
Fitter and more race-hardened than he was a year ago when he set his world record, Chalmers says there’s no reason why he can’t lower his mark in Melbourne.
“I would love to think every time I dive into the pool I can swim the best I possibly can and swim personal best times,” he said. “For me, swimming a PB now is a world record.”
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