With two individual Olympic medals under his belt, there is no denying Australian Kyle Chalmers‘ talent in the pool. However, the Port Lincoln native also has some skills when it comes to Australian Rules Football, or ‘footy’ as it’s called locally.
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.
This has instilled a desire for Chalmers to play in the AFL himself potentially, a goal in 2018 he said he might pursue after the 20202 Olympic Games.
Chalmers has since stuck to the pool, but he is weaving footy play into his schedule when the opportunity arises.
After bypassing the Australian World Championships team’s official media announcement and photo session citing mental health concerns, Chalmers suited up for the Elliston Roosters in the Great Flinders Football League on May 21st.
Chalmers originally said he would be skipping this month’s World Championships but reconsidered after his 50m and 100m butterfly performances at the Australian Swimming Championships.
With this fact in mind, paired with the Marion swimmer’s multiple heart surgeries, as well as two separate shoulder operations under his belt, Chalmers’ decision to take to the footy field drew criticism from two Australian greats.
‘I’m not sure about that [playing footy], distance freestyle icon Grant Hackett told 7News. It’s probably not the best preparation. Kyle’s his own man, he does his own thing, so if he wants to go take those risks, that’s up to him.’
Storied coach Laurie Lawrence also offered up comment, saying, ‘I wouldn’t think that’s the smartest move.
‘He seems to be getting on top of those shoulder injuries that have plagued his career. Not the smartest move for a very intelligent lad!’ (7News)
Chalmers is slated to swim the 50m fly, 100m fly and potentially multiple relays in Budapest, with World Championships swimming action beginning on June 18th.
I see Kyle Chalmers and Duncan Scott are both sporting blonde hair again. Anymore from London Roar ISL back with the hair dye?
Loretta you should find empowering, positive stories to cover. Instead you write speculative comments based on a photo on Instagram, seemingly with the sole objective of smearing the profile of one of swimmings most popular/top stars
I find it strange that you would view this as “smearing.” You should reflect internally on why that might be. I for one like him better after finding out that he did this.
Sprinters….sigh
Was it touch footy?
Aussie Rules Football. Full contact, no padding.
I missed that. Thanks.
Really not sure what kind of mental headspace Kyle is in lately .. with more and more body tattoos and social media angst .. I will just take it as a young man who wants to break free of rules and what he’s “expected” to be doing with his life
Many swimmers have a lot of tattoos and are active on social media, what’s wrong with that?
You’re obviously ignorant of recent social media events happening with Kyle
What are these? I follow him on insta and watch his story most days. He posted a couple of things around the whole Cody situation saying he wasn’t feeling appreciated but not much since then. Seems a bit of a stretch. Unless there’s been something major that I missed?
That was three weeks ago 🙄🙄🙄
Who cares? Is he now not allowed to cross the street either? Or is this another ploy of his to sabotage Cody Simpson’s love life? Leave him be! His brother went off to join the army and they played a little farewell game.
He played in a footy game whilst the trials were on.
After he had finished racing.
Sounds l like it’ll be yet another convenient injury excuse from the Prince
You mean King Kyle.
What does this mean? He’s not even swimming his signature event, so what would he possibly need an excuse for? You literally sit on here waiting for opportunities to whine and insult swimmers.
Are you really expecting kyle Chalmers to win or medal in 100fly at worlds after 7 weeks training ? What excuse are your waiting for