After a successful 2023 World Championships that saw him earn the men’s 100m freestyle crown, Australia’s Kyle Chalmers will again be taking to the ‘footy’ pitch.
25-year-old Chalmers and 24-year-old Marion teammate Matt Temple will play for Lincoln South Football Club this Saturday, August 5th in Chalmers’ hometown of Port Lincoln, South Australia.
Australian rules football (‘footy’) is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field and is essentially a hybrid of rugby and soccer.
Chalmers has been playing the game since his youth, making his under-the-radar XVIII Australian Football League (AFL) game debut for Immanuel College in the spring of 2015. The freestyle ace has a familial connection to the sport, as his father is a former AFL star and now coaches a team.
On Chalmers’ and Temple’s appearances this weekend, Lincoln South coach Johann Wagner,
“Those boys coming back into the side is just really good for the league and it’s going to be great for young kids to come and watch them and hopefully get some really good numbers there.
“They are always taking photos. Last time Kyle was over … he was signing autographs and taking photos with kids at the club.” (ABC)
Wagner additionally said of Chalmers, “He really cherishes the value of his mates that he has had from school, which is a great thing, to never forget where he comes from, and he just wants to come back and enjoy being young,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s good to just ground yourself, come home and enjoy the smaller things in life.” (ABC)
Chalmers better be careful even in a one-off appearance, however. In his aforementioned 2015 debut, the then-17-year-old left the field within the first five minutes after breaking his wrist and tearing ankle ligaments. The injuries nearly sidelined him for that year’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
He did have a successful footy outing last year ahead of the Budapest World Championships, suiting up for the Elliston Roosters in the Great Flinders Football League on May 21st, 2022.
need a livestream please
Do we think Cate Campbell shows up with a cow bell?
Careful.
Look what happened to track athlete wayde van Niekerk
5 medals go in the drawer, back on the tools during the week and footy on the weekend. Humble king
There is no one like him. Amazing person and swimmer.
The people who got their fee fees hurt by Cate Campbell are obviously here lol