THE BOYS ARE COMING IN HOT
FIRED UP, FINELY TUNED AND FITTER THAN HE HAS EVER BEEN, KYLE CHALMERS AND HIS CREW HAVE THE SWAG OF WINNERS
KING Kyle is back. Super fit and more motivated than ever, the alpha dog of the Aussie swim team is firing on all cylinders again as he prepares for the Commonwealth Games.
Just two months after he walked out of the Australian trials for mental health reasons following a public spat with the media over all the attention given to pop star Cody Simpson, Chalmers has rediscovered his mojo.
The heavily tattooed sprint star is prowling the pool deck as the top dog in an alpha crew of superconfident young swimmers — often making a grand entrance at training sessions after all the other athletes have arrived.
And that should sound a warning to his rivals in Birmingham because the Big Tuna has big ambitions, starting with ending his sixyear jinx on the international stage. The South Australian was just a teenager starting out on his career when he sensationally won the 100m freestyle gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Since then, he hasn’t won another gold in his signature event at either the Olympics, world championships or
Commonwealth Games, but that could change as early as this week. There’s been some mitigating circumstances as he’s battled injuries and some formidable opponents, but everything has fallen into place perfectly for him and he’s determined to finally get back to the top of the podium.
“I definitely think it’s a motivator for sure,” Australia’s head coach Rohan Taylor said. “Athletes of his standard who can perform at a high level, that’s their ultimate aim.
“Every time they get on the blocks, that’s what they want to do. So I have no doubts that’s what he’s looking for.”
Both in the water and on dry land, Chalmers has an unmistakeable swagger about him right now that oozes confidence
Once known as much for his reptile collection as his exploits in the pool, he has gone from lizard-loving nerd to snake-hipped beefcake.
Simpson may have stolen his ex-girlfriend and the media spotlight, but within the Australian team, Chalmers is still the top dog and that’s the way he likes it.
His regular training partners Matt Temple, Zac Incerti, Madi Wilson and Meg Harris, are all part of his innercircle so are never far from him when he’s strutting around at team camps.
The group keeps mostly to themselves, often training in a separate lane to the rest of the Dolphins team, but welcome anyone who wants to join them. Grayson Bell — who has a similar chest tattoo to King Kyle — has been spotted training with them in the Birmingham Aquatic Centre while some of the younger team members have gone to Chalmers for advice.
The Chalmers crew is reminiscent of the group of male swimmers who coalesced around James Magnussen
heading into the London 2012 Olympics or the chestthumping Aussies Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim, Chris Fydler and Ashley Callus, who defied the might of the US in the 4x100m relay at Sydney 2000 after Gary Hall Jnr suggested he would “smash them like guitars”. Team staff have been greatly impressed by the way Chalmers has been mentoring some of the up and coming stars, including Sam Short, Isaac Cooper and even Elijah Winnington.
Taking a leaf out of the book of his great American rival Caeleb Dressel, Chalmers has also become more vocal on social media, regularly showing off his muscle-packed body, which he describes as a “war rig” ready for action.
He’s also been posting pictures of his “gang” as well as cryptic messages about how focused he is to perform well after being upset at what he considered to be negative media reporting of his decision to start racing butterfly — the same stroke that Simpson swims. If it sounds and looks cocky or arrogant, Chalmers isn’t worried one bit because his spirits are soaring and for good reason. Although he didn’t swim the individual 100m freestyle at last month’s world championships in Budapest because he only recently came back from shoulder surgery, his split times in the relays were incredible as he led Australia to gold in the 4x100m mixed freestyle and silver in the 4x100m men’s freestyle.
Had he been in the race, Chalmers may well have won the individual world title that has so far eluded him after Dressel pulled out at the last minute. Romanian teenage whiz-kid David Popovici won the gold in the exact time Chalmers posted to win at Rio in 2016 (47.58), but the 24year-old Australian went as
low as 47.08 when finishing second at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Taylor said watching Popovici — who is just 17 and tipped to be the next global superstar of the sport — win not one but two world titles after he also claimed gold in the 200m, will be just the spur for Chalmers to send a message that he’s still around. Chalmers remained in Europe after the world titles to fine tune his preparations for Birmingham and Taylor said he was in mint condition, not only for his freestyle races but also his butterfly, after he
missed the semi-finals in Budapest. “I’ve just seen a real consistent progression from him.
“For him just to be with his training group and with his coach has been pretty good for him,” Taylor said. “He’s at another level, because he’s had that run of consistency.
“He’s training not just freestyle but also butterfly, which he’s clearly talented at.
“… Kyle is someone who rises every time he goes up a level, to semis and finals, so I think that opportunity will be presented for him here.”