Chalmers’ brutal reminder of uphill challenge as global competition soars ahead of Paris Games

Kyle Chalmers has been given a brutal reality check ahead of Paris as international competition sink his world ranking, setting an enormous challenge for the ‘king’ to reclaim his title.

Kyle Chalmers looks on after winning the Men's 200m Freestyle final on day 1 of the 2018 Australian Swimming Trials at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre at Southport on the Gold Coast, Wednesday, February 28, 2018. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Kyle Chalmers has been given a brutal reminder of the enormous challenge he faces regaining his mantle as the world’s fastest swimmer at next month’s Paris Olympics.

Less than a week before his 26th birthday, Chalmers has suddenly found himself under siege from a wave of younger men from all over the globe.

While the ‘King’ was untroubled winning the 100m freestyle final at the Australian trials to qualify for his third Olympics, the past 48 hours have shown how much faster he needs to go to have any chance of gold.

Crowned world champion 12 months ago, Chalmers has plummeted to 11th on the current world rankings, with seven swimmers leapfrogging him in the last 48 hours alone.

Kyle Chalmers will have his work cut out for him to chase a podium in Paris. Picture: DAVID GRAY / AFP

Chalmers’ best time this season is 47.63 seconds, which would have seen him miss the podium altogether at the last Olympics in Tokyo.

His lifetime best is a swift 47.08, which he posted in winning silver at Tokyo, but even that is no guarantee of a medal in Paris because of all the new speedsters that have arrived on the scene.

The favourite for Paris gold is Chinese teenage sensation Pan Zhanle, who set a world record of 46.80 at this year’s world titles in Qatar.

Just behind him is Romania’s 19-year-old David Popovici, who won the European title on Wednesday in 46.88.

Maxime Grousset went 47.33 at the French titles while Hungary’s Nandor Nemeth stopped the clock at 47.49 in finishing second to Popovici.

China's Zhanle Pan holds the 100m freestyle world record. Picture: Supplied

Romanian teenager David Popovici won the European title in 46.88, the third fastest time in history. Picture: Supplied

On the other side of the Atlantic, four Americans all went quicker than Chalmers, including Caeleb Dressel, the gold medallist in Tokyo, who won’t defend his title in Paris because he could only manage third place.

While the results from the past two days have seen Chalmers slip out of the top 10 rankings just five weeks from the start of the Paris Olympics, but it may not spell complete doom.

Only four men have won the blue-riband sprint on more than one occasion (Duke Kahanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller, Alex Popov and Pieter van den Hoogenband) so Chalmers is already facing an uphill battle.

Making things even harder, only one male swimmer ranked outside the top seven has gone on to win the gold. But that was Chalmers himself, when he won at Rio in 2016, seeded eighth.

The first four finishers at the US Olympic trials all went faster than Australia’s No. 1 Kyle Chalmers. Picture: Supplied

Dressel wasn’t the only American sprinter to miss out on an individual spot for Paris after he finished third behind Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy.

Simone Manuel, champion in 2016, also had to settle for a place on the relay after placing fourth in the women’s 100m freestyle, behind Kate Douglass and Torri Huske, who were all slower than Australia’s winner Mollie O’Callaghan.

Katie Ledecky won the 1500m title after her earlier wins in the 200m and 400m. She still has the 800m to come and will drop the individual 200m for Paris but retain her place in the relay.