“My mind is also probably the best… since 2016. I feel like I’m the happiest in and out of the pool. I love training and life. I’m very grateful for that.
“I love life. I work on construction sites a few days a week. I bought a fishing boat. I reconnected with a lot of buddies that I really pushed aside to focus on swimming. It made my grades a lot better.”
Chalmers’ labor partner, Australian teammate Matt Temple, was asked about his friendship with Chalmers after another win in the 200m butterfly this week.
“I think he’d be better off standing there with sunglasses and a hard hat on,” Temple said.
“I love this guy. We have Tuesday and Thursday afternoons off. Recently we went to a construction site.”
Chalmers performed well at the World Short Track Championships in Melbourne, where he won seven medals, including three golds.
Kyle Chalmers shows off his gold medal after the men’s 100m freestyle final at the World Short Track Championships in Melbourne.Credit: getty
The 24-year-old competed in the heats of the 200m freestyle this week but withdrew from the final.
It has been seven years since Chalmers won gold in the 100m freestyle at the Rio Olympics.
Five years later, his quest for back-to-back glory at the Tokyo Olympics came so suddenly that Caeleb Dressel touched the wall 0.06 seconds ahead of the South Australian.
Loading
Chalmers will be one of Australia’s best hopes for an individual gold medal by the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, Ariarne Titmus fell short of her fourth place finish this week as Mollie O’Callaghan beat her training partner in the women’s 200m freestyle. Three national championship titles.
O’Callaghan (1:55.15) beat defending Olympic champion Timms (1:55.28) in the 100-200 freestyle for a double.
“I was very nervous going into this meeting,” O’Callaghan said. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be better than last year. We haven’t really had a break. It’s been a big confidence booster.”
These championships are difficult to read for swimmers because most are not cutting back on training. With eight weeks to go until the trial in Melbourne, the real hard work is about to begin.
Meanwhile, Swimming Australia has announced that a 26-athlete Dolphins team will compete at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships.
Tokyo gold medalists including Rowan Crothers, Lakeisha Patterson, Benjamin Hance and Rachael Watson headlined while Poppy Wilson and Alexa Leary were two newcomers to the team.
