Commonwealth Games 2018: Sprint star Kyle Chalmers is feeling that golden glow

KYLE Chalmers has stared down his inner demons and is now convinced he can return to the form that helped him win a shock Olympic gold in Rio.

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DOES this look like a man short on confidence?

Kyle Chalmers has stared down his inner demons heading into the Commonwealth Games swim meet, with his performances at last month’s trials convincing him he can return to the form that helped him win a shock Olympic gold in Rio.

Chalmers missed last year’s world championships after having surgery to correct the heart condition supraventricular tachycardia.

Kyle Chalmers’ confidence was obvious at a Dolphins training session. Picture: AAP

But he is back to his best and ready to dive into action at his first Commonwealth Games.

“Winning a gold medal on home soil would be awesome,” Chalmers said.

“Trials gave me a lot of confidence.

“I swam Queensland states and Victorian states and probably didn’t swim as well as I was expecting … and I probably went into trials lacking confidence in a way.

“The 200m was the first race for me (as it will be at the Games) and to swim well and get a PB made that meet and gave me the confidence to swim well in the 100m.”

Kyle Chalmers after his meet-defining win in the 200m free. Picture: Getty Images

The swimming gets underway on Thursday, with Chalmers’ first chance to swim coming in the 200m heats on Friday morning.

But it’s the relay that night he is most excited about.

Australia’s women are expected to set the tone with gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay on the opening night of competition, with the men also determined to rule the pool in the team events.

“Most of all I’m excited to swim the relays,” Chalmers said.

“Hopefully we can swim well in the relays, that’s the most important thing for me.”

Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2018: Sprint star Kyle Chalmers is feeling that golden glow