Tokyo Olympics 2021: Kyle Chalmers through to 100m freestyle final

Kyle Chalmers is through to the final of the Men’s 100m Freestyle, but he faces a big task to nab a medal.

TOKYO, JAPAN – JULY 27: Kyle Chalmers of Team Australia competes in the Men's 100m Freestyle heats on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 27, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Kyle Chalmers has squeaked through to Thursday’s mens 100m freestyle final, but the South Australian faces a tough challenge to rein in the flying Russian Kliment Kolesnikov.

Chalmers qualified for the final in sixth position, and he was either foxing or saving his energy for the final after turning in sixth position in his semifinal and then storming home to ensure a second-place finish and a guaranteed spot in the final.

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Kyle Chalmers of Team Australia is through to the final of the Men's 100m Freestyle. Picture: Al Bello/Getty Images

“Not quite looking quite as sharp as some of the other swimmers,” Ian Thorpe said after the semifinal.

“Kyle will go through. It’s just which lane he comes out at now and how that’s going to affect his race.”

Kolesnikov, who won Chalmers’s semifinal, has begun the mind games with a slick time of 47.11s.

American world champion Caeleb Dressel had also looked dominant in the other semifinal, winning in 47.23s after a super quick initial lap of 22.55s.

The Los Angeles 100m Olympic gold medallist Rowdy Gaines remarked Dressel was “like a tiger getting ready to pounce on his prey noting that nobody is faster to the first 15m red marker.

But the reigning Olympic champion Chalmers, who relies on his back end speed, will have to go out faster in tomorrow’s final to keep his Russian and American rivals in check.

Korean Sunwoo Hwang and the 16 year old Romanian David Popovici were also faster than Chalmers.

But Chalmers said after the heats on Tuesday night that everybody was foxing and he was planning on just getting through to the final as fresh as possible.

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Kyle Chalmers through to 100m freestyle final