‘This is awesome’: Aussie swimming reacts to Kyle Chalmers huge news
Kyle Chalmers is one of Australian swimming’s biggest stars but the 2016 100m champ has dropped a bomb on the eve of the Olympics.
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He’s been the Aussie king of the pool for the best part of a decade but swim champ Kyle Chalmers has found his queen, announcing his engagement to Norwegian swimmer Ingeborg Løyning.
The 25-year-old Chalmers burst into the Aussie consciousness as a teenager when he became the first Aussie since Michael Wenden in 1968 to win the 100m Olympic title.
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But prior to heading to his third Olympic Games, Chalmers has revealed his engagement in an Instagram post.
Løyning is also an Olympian, having competed in the 100m and 200m backstroke in Tokyo but not advancing from the heats, despite breaking the Norwegian record in the 200m.
In a post featuring pictures of Chalmers and Løyning showing off the ring, the caption simply read “19.06.24” alongside an infinity symbol.
The post quickly racked up the likes and comments from fellow swimmers and athletes as they celebrated the love match.
Aussie swim star Shayna Jack posted: “Congratulations to you both.”
Melbourne Demons star Clayton Oliver commented: “King and queen”.
Elijah Winnington added: “Yew yew yew”.
Aussie swim legend Brett Hawke commented: “To an epic life together.”
Aussie long distance swimmer Sam Short said: “I would say simp, but this is awesome. Congrats man.”
English breaststroker Adam Peaty wrote: “Congratulations both.”
And that was just the tip of the iceberg as the community celebrated the couple’s announcement.
The pair went public in December last year after a year of quietly dating when Løyning moved to Adelaide to train in the same squad as Chalmers.
“Yes, we are a couple. We have been there for quite some time, since around December,” Løyning said at the time.
“That is not the whole reason, but one of the reasons why I went down to train in Australia.”
But Chalmers won’t get too long to celebrate the engagement with the Olympics right around the corner as the star hunts another Olympic medal.
Despite being crowned world champion in 2023, Chalmers is ranked 11th in the current world rankings with seven swimmers moving past him as the world locks in its swimming stars.
Although Chalmers won silver in Tokyo, his season best 47.63 would have seen Chalmers miss the podium in Tokyo.
The likes of China’s Pan Zhanle, who lowered the world record to 46.80 at the world titles in Qatar is the favourite for gold in Paris, while Romanian teenager David Popovic set the third fastest time in history at the European Championships on Wednesday in a time of 46.88.
At the US championships, four swimmers went faster than Chalmers, while Tokyo gold medallist Caeleb Dressel finished third and will not defend his title in Paris.
Originally published as ‘This is awesome’: Aussie swimming reacts to Kyle Chalmers huge news
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