Paris Olympics 2024: Kyle Chalmers’ coach Peter Bishop stood down

Kyle Chalmers is racing against time to find a new coach to oversee his final preparations for the Paris Olympics after his long time mentor was banned after a secret investigation.

Kyle Chalmers and coach Peter Bishop in 2021. Picture: Getty Images

KYLE Chalmers is racing against time to find a new coach to oversee his final preparations for the Paris Olympics - starting in less than 20 weeks - after his long time mentor Peter Bishop was banned from attending the world’s biggest sporting event following a secret investigation by South Australian sports officials.

The heartbeat of the Australian team, ‘King Kyle’ was already facing the biggest challenge of his swimming career to regain the Olympic gold in Paris after Chinese teenager Pan Zhanle came from the clouds to break the coveted 100m freestyle world record just last month.

Now, Chalmers will have to take on the world without the father-figure who masterminded his 2016 Rio triumph after Bishop was stripped of his coaching credentials and demoted to an administrative role that prevents him from being on the pool deck.

It is a massive blow for Kyle Chalmers, who will need to switch to a new coach on the eve of the Paris Olympics. Picture: Getty Images

The exact details of the investigation remain under wraps for confidentiality reasons but sources said the probe was launched in late 2023 following information that was forwarded to the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI).

It is understood the complaint did not come from a swimmer and was not of a criminal nature but was still considered serious enough for him to lose his job.

SASI confirmed Bishop was temporarily stood down from his role as head coach of the state’s high-performance program before being permanently replaced when the case was finalised this week.

“Peter Bishop has been on leave while the investigation was conducted. During this time Craig Stewart was acting as head coach,” the spokesperson said.

“Peter Bishop was reassigned this week.

“The police were not involved.”

Kyle Chalmers and coach Peter Bishop in 2021. Picture: Matt Loxton

While demoted as head coach, SASI said Bishop had been given a reassigned role, focussing on developing talent and strategies, but would no longer be working as a coach or with the elite high-performance squad, which Chalmers is a part of.

The sport’s national body, Swimming Australia, released a statement saying it had revoked Bishop’s coaching accreditation after being notified about the probe, sinking any hope he may have had of being part of the Dolphins team in Paris.

“This was an independent process and part of the recommendations include the restructuring of this program,” the statement said.

“Swimming Australia respects the process and findings and has revoked Peter Bishop’s coaching accreditation until the end of the Olympic cycle, upon which he is eligible to reapply.”

Kyle Chalmers is a serious medal hope at the Paris Olympics. Picture: Supplied

In the last two years, Swimming Australia has introduced strict new code of conduct rules for all staff, including coaches, following recommendations from a scathing independent review into the way the sport was run.

Bishop and Chalmers were both contacted for comment but did not respond.

A regular figure prowling the pool deck with his stopwatch in hand, Bishop was a notable absence from his squad’s training sessions in recent weeks, including their recent camp in Southeast Asia and visit to Malaysia.

The timing is especially terrible for Chalmers, who is now considering his coaching options.

If, as expected, he remains in his home state, he may switch his training to work under Stewart, who had previously served as an assistant to Bishop for six years.

Regarded as one of Australia’s most astute swim coaches, Bishop was promoted to run the elite state training program in 2017, just months after he oversaw Chalmers’ stunning win at Rio when he was still in high school.

Now 25, Chalmers also won a silver medal at the delayed Tokyo Olympics as well as gold at last year’s world championships and remains one of the Dolphins’ biggest trump cards for the swimming events in the French capital.

As well as Chalmers, Olympic butterflier Matt Temple will also have to figure out his next move as he too was part of the SASI high-performance program.

Temple and Chalmers teamed up in the Australian men’s relay that won the 4x100m freestyle world title in 2023, raising hopes of a repeat in Paris.