Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia is already back in the pool after having undergone surgery to address his heart condition known as Supraventricular Tachycardia. In fact, we reported how the 19-year-old already tucked his first race back under his belt having competed at a local South Australian meet just a couple of weeks after the procedure.
Speaking with Australian media this week, the Port Lincoln native is already looking to Tokyo 2020 to defend his 100m freestyle title, but beyond that, the teen is keeping his options open. “I’ll commit myself till 2020 and then I’ll decide what I want to do,” says Chalmers.
Wrapping up his swimming career is something he says “has definitely crossed my mind, but until 2020, swimming is my life.” Keep in mind that, at just 19 years of age now, Chalmers will still only be a young 22-year-old. Considering the 2016 50m freestyle champion Anthony Ervin is 36 years of age and the most decorated Olympian of all-time, now-retired Michael Phelps, still won medals at 31, Chalmers could still fall well on the younger end of the spectrum come Tokyo.
With his surgery having taken Chalmers out of the 2017 World Championships, which kick-off in Budapest just days away, the freestyle specialist is targeting the 2018 Commonwealth Games as his next big competition. The Games are hosted in Gold Coast, Australia and are seen as a prestigious international event. Now with Chalmers back at nearly 100%, anything is possible for this raw talent.
Listen to his entire interview below.
Olympic gold medalist Kyle Chalmers is back in the pool, only 5 WEEKS after heart surgery, preparing to win us some more medals! LEGEND 🏊 💦 pic.twitter.com/ZJx3eh5oZ2
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) July 10, 2017
My understanding is that he has only played Aussie Rules at schoolboy level. The stats show that even the brightest schoolboy prospects fail to make it in the senior ranks. When he tries to establish himself as an elite footballer he will be 22 having never played football at a really competitive standard. The odds of him making it lengthen further. Predicting these sorts of things is a mugs game but if I had to bet on it I would say that post Tokyo an Aussie Rules club will sign him for marketing reasons as much as for his potential. My guess is he will play a few games at reserve level and discover he doesn’t have the skills to… Read more »
And so staying in the current swimming environment is not a Mug’s game???
I support him getting out of the sport the moment he feels that its getting stale but Blackline has put forward the most realistic assessment of his AFL prospects … which mostly centre around him being the son of a former AFL player and his relative size.
The reality is that he played very little serious schoolboy football and certainly none at the elite level that is the main “shopwindow” for being drafted by an AFL club. At most he may get an invite to do some pre-season training with an AFL club (most likely Crows or Port) but its unlikely he’ll be offered a contract unless he’s something exceptional. Mature age recruits are far less common these days.
I… Read more »
Very smart cookie. Whilst he will do well as an individual the sport in Aus is disappearing unfortunately very little on the horizon other than Commonwealth Games at home which will pump up the ego but not the discipline. Kyle has a genuine opportunity to go to AFL and he will do well in addition to stabilising his future well being. This is something that swimming cannot do and is being shown more often you need to get in, get out and move on. Kyle has worked this out pity others don’t see it and actually respond to the challenge.
Those supposedly leading the sport are forgetting the basic support networks or nurturing the base for survival. We are… Read more »
Good plan . I had high hopes of going to the Nth Adelaide Aquatic Centre !& trekked thru parklands but only got to this amazing dessert place . I sat in the winter sun & had a triple scoop of salted caramel with one other flavour I forget in a Belgian waffle cone . I am going to Adelaide again this week & plan to just have 3 salted caramel scoops . They are yuuuuge & only $8.50 .I shall try to get to the pool but I think I have Aquired Aquatic Centre Claustrophobia . I really can’t face indoor pools anymore .
It’s only now do I understand ex champions who can’t face even swimming pools .… Read more »
Never understood the appeal of salted caramel. Regular caramel? Heck yeah. Salt takes away, IMHO. Still, to each their own. Enjoy!
It’s unami . My next favourite is ginger but it’s hard to find .
Make it then.
Nope . I will just go to Bundaberg where everything is ginger . Its like Kyle , he knows another great race is there if he wants it , but no hurry .
The comparisons to Tony Ervin are really misplaced in my opinion.
Kyle Chalmers is a legit athlete – maybe one of the better pure athletes in the sport – who had the chance to play Aussie-rules footie at a very, very high level. He was drafted (I believe) by one of the AFL teams his dad played for and he turned that down to concentrate on swimming.
A better analogy, one that Americans might be able to relate to, would be Kiki Vandeweghe. One the more dominant age group swimmers in California history – I think his 10&Under 100bk record might still stand and it’s at least 40+ years old – who was also a hella basketball player.… Read more »
Kiki is not a good comparison. Chalmers is an Olympic champ. Kiki was a great age grouper. Chalmers leaving is like Bullet Bob Hayes joining the Dallas Cowboys after winning the 100m at the 64 Olympics.
Well said.
I meant well said for PVDH.
I’d say Ervin is a legit athlete. You’re making it sound like being a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the most athletic event is nothing. Kiki was just Michael Andrews tall for his age in swimming. Kiki was considered a “slow white guy with no hops,” not the most athletic of NBA players. He could shoot though.
Ervin is more about technique and specific talent (specific to swimming) than anything else. I mean of course he has fast-twitch fibers and an out-of-this world stroke rate, but what sets him apart is how his body shoots through the water and how smooth he is. I don’t think he would fare well in most other sports.
Just like Usain Bolt wouldn’t fare well in swimming.
This reminds me of Ervin’s early career.
He’s got to beat his own countryman McEvoy, who is looking for redemption after his disappointing Rio.
Chalmers already has a gold medal, so I think McEvoy will have greater motivation.
McEvoy is also nearing university graduation and seems to have some serious ambitions academically so its no guarantee how long HE is likely to continue. Cartwright is already swimming sub48.5 so he may be a challenger going forward but I think this is realistic from Chalmers. 2 Olympics generally covers the vast majority of intl swimmers and if they have ambitions in life outside the sport then why hang around ?
Maybe McEvoy should do a thesis on how he swam that 47.04. That was lightning in a bottle.
It’s simple. His technique is out of this world. He’s “only” 6’1″ and 154 lbs. Compared to guys like Adrian, Magnussen, etc, he’s a lightweight. I hope he rocks it in Budapest
Marklewis, what is your 100m time?
47.04 was a fantastic swim.
Oh please, stop with the dislikes. Stop hating on Mcevoy. Do you know how hard it is to break 50 in the 100 free? 47 is only for the absolute fastest swimmers in the world. Mcevoy is the true world record holder so stop hating on him. Even if he only goes 48 that is still really fast. That is why swimmers race, some are faster than others, and at different times in history. 48 in the 90s was amazing, and it’s still really fast today. Maybe not enough to medal, but the guy who gets 16th in the semis is still top 16 in the world, and that is not easy. And once you reach a certain level, it… Read more »
People have no respect for athletes of swim swam.
Good for him – Far more to life than swimming.
That’s gotta be tough to hear for aussie fans. Ending a bright career at just 22. Likely was more passionate about aussie rules football.