2024 Paris, Oceania Recap: Chalmers Joins Rare Air By Medalling In 3rd Straight Olympic 100 FR

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

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• Oceania Recap, Day 1: Chalmers On ‘King Kyle’ Form After Tough Run Up to Paris
• Oceania Recap, Day 3: Mollie O’Callaghan Goes From Prelims Only Relay Swimmer to Olympic Champ in Three Years
• Oceania Recap, Day 4: Kaylee McKeown Becomes 2nd Woman to Defend Olympic Gold In 100 Backstroke

The men’s 100 freestyle has undergone a renaissance in recent years, led by teenagers Pan Zhanle and David Popovici. But as the next generation arrives on the international scene, there has been one constant on the Olympic podium for the last eight years: Kyle Chalmers.

Chalmers, 26, defended his silver medal from the Tokyo Games tonight in Paris. In doing so, he became just the third man to make the 100 freestyle podium in three consecutive Olympic Games and the first since 2000. He joins Duke Kahanamoku and Alexander Popov in the exclusive club. Both Kahanamoku and Popov won two golds and one silver. Chalmers got his streak started at the 2016 Olympics, where he staged an impressive comeback over the final 50 meters and claimed gold at 18 years old. In Tokyo, he won silver behind Caeleb Dressel, tying his lifetime best 47.08.

As we’ve seen him do so often, Chalmers ripped through the Paris field on the final 50 meters. He made the turn last in 23.03, a full .75 seconds behind Pan. He was the only swimmer out in 23-point, behind Popovici’s 22.94. But he came home in 22.45, moving through the field to claim silver in 47.45.

Chalmers was already an important piece of the Australian men’s sprinting legacy. With this silver medal, he extends that legacy even further. He continues the streak of at least one Australian man medalling in this event at every Games since 2004.

When Chalmers split 46.59 anchoring the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay, we wrote that he had brought his ‘King Kyle’ form to Paris after a difficult lead-up that saw him change coaches with less than 200 days to go before the Games. That split was the third-fastest of his career and provided confidence for him that seemed to stay as he began the individual 100 free rounds. After the heats, he said “I feel like I’m in as good shape as I can possibly be for the Olympic Games. Definitely better than I was in Tokyo.”

‘King Kyle’ form isn’t just about mind-boggling relay splits. What makes those splits so special is not only is he able to swim them, but he can produce them and get his hand on the wall ahead of his closest competition. It’s what’s helped him secure multiple relay medals for Australian quartets at the Olympic and World level. And though he’s been faster in his career and the gold medal had gone down the road, Chalmers displayed vintage ‘King Kyle’ form today in the men’s 100 freestyle final, cutting through the crowd and finding his way onto the podium.

Day 5 Quick Hits

• Zac Stubblety-Cook got back onto the Olympic podium in the men’s 200 breaststroke. Three years removed from gold in Tokyo, Stubblety-Cook claimed silver in 2:06.79, his sixth sub-2:07 effort. Stubblety-Cook was 5th at the 50-meter mark but moved up to 3rd by the halfway point. He’d taken over 2nd with 50 meters to go, but his 32.49 closing split was not enough to reel in Leon Marchand, who has been unstoppable at these Games. On Marchand, Stubblety-Cook said “He’s on the cusp of being one of the greatest swimmers. We’re just seeing the beginning. Maybe if it was someone else, I wouldn’t be as happy for them, but I was stoked for him to have that moment in front of the home crowd. To see someone achieve that, I can’t complain.”
• Mollie O’Callaghan, another Australian who likes to back-half their races, left herself a little too much to do in the women’s 100 freestyle final. O’Callaghan won the 2023 world title in this event and was one of the gold medal favorites coming into the race. She flipped tied for 7th place at the 50-meter mark and powered home in a field-best 26.83 but couldn’t chase down the medals, finishing .01 second behind Siobhan Haughey (52.34).
• Both Australia’s women’s 200 butterfliers are through to tomorrow night’s final. Elizabeth Dekkers qualified 4th (2:06.17), taking third in the first semifinal behind Summer McIntosh and Regan Smith. Abbey Connor moved through in 7th position after swimming 2:07.10 in her semifinal.

Oceanian Medal Table Thru Day 5