Watch out world.
Kyle Chalmers is feeling the best he has mentally and physically since 2016 – the year he won the Olympic title – and the results in the pool show it.
Chalmers won the 100m freestyle at the Australian swimming championships on the Gold Coast on Thursday night, stopping the clock in 48.00 to conquer the challenge of teenagers Kai Taylor (48.41) and Flynn Southam (48.53).
After “a bit of a shock” in the morning heats, when he was half a second behind fastest qualifier Taylor, Chalmers shot from the blocks in the final and put on the afterburners on the way home to underline his position as Australia’s top sprinter.
With his troublesome shoulders in check after two torturous surgeries and their recovery, Chalmers has a new lease on life in and out of the pool.
“The body’s the best it’s been since probably 2020,” he said.
“(That) was when I had shoulder problems, in March 2020, so I’ve had two shoulder surgeries since then.
“I had a few cortisone (injections) straight after NSW states because my shoulders were a bit tender – I’m always going to be in a little bit of pain but they’re feeling the best they have in a really long time and I think my mind is probably the best it’s felt since 2016.
“I feel the happiest I have in and out of the pool, I’m loving training, loving life and having a lot of fun with it, so I’m very grateful for that.”
The contrast to living a life in pain is immense.
“It’s so much easier. It’s just so much fun, more manageable,” Chalmers said.
“Driving hurt me, sleeping hurt me, brushing my teeth, eating, all those things you take for granted.
“When you don’t have to worry about that you can dive into the pool and feel good, it just makes you so much happier, it makes training so much more enjoyable and going to the pool a whole lot more fun again.”
In the middle of an intense training block with coach Peter Bishop and his South Australian squad, Chalmers “wasn’t expecting much” at this meet.
But the challenge of teen tyros Taylor, who won the 200m final in Chalmers’ absence after beating him in the heats, and Southam, the 17-year-old rising star from the Gold Coast, has him excited for the future – while determined to underline his place as the alpha sprinter.
“I absolutely love it,” he said of the emergence of the next generation.
“I’m competitive but I love relays. So I know that I have to have these young kids coming through to create that team success next year (at the Olympics) and relays are realistically your best chance of getting a medal, so I know that if I have guys around me that can perform on the day, it gives me a chance to win more Olympic medals.
“So I’m loving having these young kids come through and as much wisdom and guidance I can give them, the better I think.
“I spend a lot of time with Flynn and Kai’s obviously coming through – and I loved racing against him (in the heats) and him swimming over the top of me, I love that, it gives me something to chase and keeps me motivated and hungry.
“And I know we’re gonna push each other over this next year and do something special next year.”
In other events on the final night, Mollie O’Callaghan won the battle of the St Peters Western sprinters, beating Ariarne Titmus and Shayna Jack to the wall in the 200m in a cracking race, where just 0.22 separated first and third.
O’Callaghan (1:55.15), who also won the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke on the Gold Coast and finished second behind world record-holder Kaylee McKeown in the 100m backstroke, admitted she had been particularly nervous heading into the meet.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs and I think after last year, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be better than what I was last year and hit the times in training and be better than that,” she said.
“Coming into this meet, I was quite nervous and we haven’t really been rested coming into this – we’ve got to be on all the time.
“But I think this is a big confidence booster on what I can improve on and what I executed well and what I need to work on in training, so it’s a great learning experience for me.”
Flyer Jack, out in lane 7 led the field through the opening 150m and almost looked set to cause a massive boilover before Titmus and O’Callaghan swam over the top of her.
Both O’Callaghan and McKeown – fourth in the 200m free – skipped the 200m backstroke, with St Peters Western teen Jaclyn Barclay, 16, taking the event out in a trifecta for the club.
Olympic medallist Brendon Smith made up more than three seconds in the freestyle leg to touch out Se-Bom Lee in a thrilling 400m medley final, while Sam Williamson won the 50m breaststroke.
Matt Temple added to his 100m butterfly title, winning the 200m in 1:56.96.
SWIM NERD’S INSANE FEAT PUTS WORLD ON NOTICE
Comeback king Cameron McEvoy is already posting faster times than he did at the Tokyo Games as his bid for a fourth Olympic campaign clears another hurdle.
McEvoy, who made his Olympic debut as a teenage relay swimmer in London, still owns the fifth fastest time in history over 100m with his national championship-winning mark of 47.04sec, achieved when he was 21.
Now 28 and a veteran of three Games, McEvoy is making a bid for a fourth Olympic appearance in Paris next year.
But while he started his career as a 100m and 200m swimmer, McEvoy is now concentrating on the 50m and 100m, with startling results.
He won the 50m freestyle at the national titles on the Gold Coast on Wednesday night in a respectable 22.11.
“I had a year off after Tokyo and got back into it in October,” McEvoy said.
“I haven’t swum fresh since coming back but I’ve already beaten the times I did at the Olympics.
“With that in mind, it’s looking good for when I finally get fully shaved down, the rest, the trials atmosphere.
“I’m in a great spot for that and hopefully looking forward to worlds.”
Gold Coast product McEvoy is now living and training in Brisbane with Tim Lane at Sommerville House and while chasing the black line is no new pursuit for him, he feels like he’s doing it in a “new vessel” after significantly bulking up his former whippet-like frame.
A rigorous callisthenics regimen has added strength that is helping him in the one-lap dash and he’s working on finding speed this preparation before adding the background work that will help him in the 100m.
“This season, the focus is 50m, with the end goal the 50 and 100 in Paris,” McEvoy said.
“We believe getting speed and then getting conditioning on top of that is better than conditioning and then trying to find speed at the end.
“So this year, all on the 50, trying to get as deep into the 21sec (range) as I can and then go to a more traditional approach for myself for 50 and 100.”
While Leisel Jones, Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm have all been to four Olympics, no Australian male swimmer has become a quadruple Olympian and McEvoy is in line to become the first.
At 22, he headed to the Rio Olympics as favourite for the 100m and while he made the final, he was not at his best and was upstaged by a then 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers, who claimed gold with a stunning last 50m in the final.
While he was unable to discover his best form in the years after Rio, he rebounded to win a spot on his third Games team and won his first Olympic medal when he snared bronze with the 4x100m freestyle relay.
