Kyle is king in lizard circles

OLYMPIC champion. tragic. Lizard king?

Champion swimmer Kyle Chalmers is a closet reptile fan who keeps native lizards in his garage and has a cult Instagram following through his Blue Tongues of Adelaide page.

Lizards, Chalmers says, are his mindset.

It’s one of the more bizarre statements you’ll ever hear from an elite sportsman.

But it’s one that could help Chalmers become one of the stars of next month’s Commonwealth Games.

The Adelaide teen admits he struggled to deal with the spotlight after his 100m freestyle win at the Rio Games.

“I probably pushed everything aside and thought swimming was me after the Olympics,” Chalmers said.

“And now I’m trying to refind all those loves that I had that helped me perform.”

Turns out reptiles are among the biggest of those loves.

“I’m obsessed with reptiles. Blue-tongued skinks are my (thing),” he said.

“I’ve got about 16 of them. I’ve got all the super-rare ones, like albinos.

“I’m right into it. (I keep them in tanks) in my garage. I’ve got a licence and everything.

“My mindset these days.”

Chalmers is a big deal in Australia’s lizard community.

Although it’s unclear AFL is always lizards whether followers of the Instagram handle adl_bluetongues know they’re connecting with an Olympic champion when they view his posts covering everything from the latest additions to his collection, to the feeding habits of baby bluetongue skinks.

“I’ve formed a lot of friends in the lizard community,” he said.

NOW I’M TRYING TO REFIND ALL THOSE LOVES THAT I HAD THAT HELPED ME PERFORM

“It’s a weird thing to say. It’s a great community. I’ve got friends all around Australia that I’ll catch up with now and they know me as Adelaide Bluetongues (adl_bluetongues), that’s my Instagram page. “I’m obsessed.” Chalmers grew up in the country where there were plenty of lizards in the backyard. He had one as a pet before getting into serious collecting.

Serious collecting can mean serious money and logistics too, including live freighting around the country.

“Some lizards sell for up to ten grand – there’s a lot of money in lizards,” Chalmers said.

“An albino bluetongue goes for about $1500 and they’ll have 20 babies at a time and they sell ridiculously quickly, it’s unbelievable.

“I do it more as a passion … it’s not a business.”