By Tom Decent
Kyle Chalmers emptied the tank in front of an electric home crowd in Melbourne to storm to victory in the men’s 100m freestyle final on Thursday evening in a race he says he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
On a night where Emma McKeon also claimed gold in the same four-lap dash at the World Shortcourse Championships, Chalmers now has fresh bragging rights over Romanian rising star David Popovici, who finished fourth and surprised many by missing out on a medal.
Earlier this week, Ian Thorpe made the bold claim that Popovici was his favourite for the highly anticipated race, despite Chalmers holding the shortcourse world record.
In truth, it was a deliberate ploy by Thorpe to rev-up Australia’s sprint king of the past six years.
It worked a treat as the South Australian jumped onto the top of the lane rope and splashed water in delight from lane three as his grandmother burst into happy tears in the stands.
With 25 metres to swim, Chalmers had 0.09 seconds to make up before a blistering finish over the top of Jordan Crooks, who faded away to finish in sixth place after leading with a lap to go.
Kyle Chalmers shows off his gold medal after the men’s 100m freestyle final at the World Shortcourse Championships in Melbourne.Credit:Getty
Chalmers’ time of 45.16 was a new Championship record, ahead of Popovici in 45.64.
After playing the underdog card all week, Chalmers solidified his reputation as a shortcourse star.
“It’s something I’m going to remember forever and something I have dreamed of since I was a kid,” Chalmers said. “The reason I’m in the sport is to have success and to execute on the big stage is something I pride myself on doing.
“Tomorrow is one year to the day since I had shoulder surgery which almost potentially ended my career. For me to be back here and back on top of the podium is something very special. Everyone faces challenges in their swimming career. It’s about finding ways to win. I’m very proud of that one.”
Popovici, who finished behind France’s Maxime Grousset (45.41) and Italy’s Alessandro Miressi (45.57), insisted he was happy with his performance.
It might be the last race Popovici loses for a while, if his breathtaking longcourse form is anything to go by.
Chalmers won’t have it as easy when the pair meet at the 2024 Paris Olympics in a proper pool.
“I’m extremely surprised for a start but also very happy with the time,” said Popovici, who is the longcourse 100m freestyle world record holder. “They were pretty loud [the crowd]. I guess they still like me.”
Minutes before Chalmers’ victory, McKeon registered victory in the women’s 100m freestyle final but fell short of Cate Campbell’s world record.
Fresh off a blistering sub-50 second final leg of the 4×100 freestyle relay on Tuesday evening, McKeon touched the wall first in 50.77 after leading at every turn.
The Australian was ahead of Hong Kong’s Siobhan Bernadette Haughey (50.87).
Campbell said this week she felt McKeon was about to eclipse her magic mark of 50.25, set in Adelaide five years ago, but it is safe for now.
“It was a tight finish,” McKeon said. “I’m stoked to win that event. The crowd definitely came out tonight. That just added to the excitement. I have got like 30 of my family and friends in the crowd.”
Fellow Australia Madi Wilson (51.70) finished fourth.
Meanwhile, teenager Isaac Cooper believes he has a shot at winning the men’s 50m backstroke final after qualifying fastest in a time of 22.52 for Friday’s final.
“Yeah I reckon [I can win it],” Cooper said. “I’ll give it a good crack, that’s for sure.”
Cooper said he “felt horrendous” and lacked energy in the warm-up pool before the race but pulled out a new junior world record.
“I’d known that I had that in there,” Cooper said. “I didn’t think that fast though. I’m really happy with that.”
