‘Are you serious?!: Kyle Chalmers wins gold, stuns world with ‘outrageous’ relay swim

Kyle Chalmers has left the swimming world lost for words after he came from the clouds to lead Australia to a surprise gold medal.

Kyle Chalmers mowed down the field.

King Kyle reigns supreme.

Kyle Chalmers cemented his status as the king of men’s sprint freestyle with two sensational gold medals on Thursday night at the world short course swimming championships in Melbourne.

The Olympic champion claimed his first individual world title in the 100m freestyle, flying home over the final lap to touch first in a championship record of 45.16sec ahead of Maxime Grousset (45.41) and Alessandro Miressi (45.57).

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David Popovici, the 18-year-old long course world record holder, finished fourth in a new junior world record.

But Chalmers’ heroics didn’t end there. In the last event of the night, he produced a monster anchor leg to snatch gold in the men’s 4x50m freestyle relay.

Diving into the water in fifth place, Chalmers roared home in the fastest split of the entire field (20.34sec) to touch ahead of Italy by just 0.04sec.

That was outrageous from Kyle Chalmers. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Chalmers came from the clouds. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

The home crowd went bonkers as Chalmers took the lead, lifting the roof off the Melbourne Aquatic Centre.

“Absolute wowsers,” Giaan Rooney said on Channel 9.

KYLE CHALMERS ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 👑

Anchors in 20.34 and LAUNCHES the Aussies to Gold in the Men’s 200 freestyle relay with a total time of 1:23.44 🥶

WHAT A CLUTCH SWIM 😤 pic.twitter.com/179I3l11gy

— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) December 15, 2022

20.3 ANCHOR FTW!! https://t.co/06CtVgwq7q

— SWIMNERD (@SwimNerds) December 15, 2022

Did that just happen? Kyle Chalmers. Outrageous!

— Phil Lutton (@phillutton78) December 15, 2022

Chalmers!!!

— Andy Ross (@andy_ross4) December 15, 2022

It was a remarkable effort from Chalmers and the relatively inexperienced line-up of Matthew Temple and teenagers Isaac Cooper and Flynn Southam.

Chalmers’ great rival, American superstar Caeleb Dressel, isn’t swimming at the world short course titles as he takes an extended break from the sport but Chalmers’ efforts shows he is still at the top of his game heading towards the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The 24-year-old’s battered body is falling apart with every passing year, so he was thrilled to maintain his crown as the sprint king of men’s freestyle.

King Kyle reigns supreme. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

“Tomorrow is one year to the day since I had shoulder surgery, which almost potentially ended my career.

“So for me to be back here and standing on top of the podium is always something very special.”

“Everyone faces challenges in their swimming career, and it’s about people who can rise above those challenges and continue to find ways to win, and I’m very proud of that one.”

Earlier, Emma McKeon also won her maiden individual world title in the 100m freestyle and Tommy Neil smashed his personal best to claim silver in the 400m freestyle.

Isaac Cooper set a junior world record to qualify fastest for the 50m backstroke final.

Originally published as ‘Are you serious?!: Kyle Chalmers wins gold, stuns world with ‘outrageous’ relay swim