Ian Thorpe makes revealing claim in Kyle Chalmers swimming war

Kyle Chalmers is looking downright scary and the Americans will be looking over their shoulders as he prepares for a tilt at 100m freestyle gold.

The battle of the big dogs will be must-watch.

Kyle Chalmers means business.

The sprint sensation put the Australian 4x100m freestyle relay team on his back and carried it onto the podium in a thrilling final on Monday as he reminded the world just how scary he can be.

The Aussies – featuring Matthew Temple, Zac Incerti and Alexander Graham — were sixth when Chalmers, swimming the anchor leg, dived into the water. Just 46.44 seconds later, the men in green and gold were celebrating their third-placed finish.

Chalmers stared down a deficit of more than 1.5 seconds when it was his time to shine and the world watched on in awe as he hit the afterburners to deliver the fastest split by any swimmer of the entire race.

It came after he delivered a sizzling time of 46.63s in the heats. For context, the individual 100m world record is 46.91s.

American Olympics expert Nick Zaccardi said Chalmers’ split was the second-fastest ever in a 4x100m freestyle after Jason Lezak’s 46.06s in 2008.

Social media took notice as the freakish Aussie superfish played a pivotal part in his country winning another medal, finishing just 0.11 seconds behind Italy in second, while the Caeleb Dressel-led Americans took out the gold.

Kyle Sockwell tweeted: “Let’s also not ignore Kyle Chalmers splitting a 46.44 to get bronze for Australia. That’s NASTY.”

Swimming writer Phil Lutton called Chalmers an “absolute beast” and praised his “monster final leg”, sports broadcaster Shane McInnes said it was a “scintillating” swim and Ainslie Drewitt-Smith said Chalmers did an “insane job”.

Sports journalist Daniel Garb wrote: “Beast mode from Kyle Chalmers.”

Anthony Stewart added: “Kyle Chalmers basically cast his own bronze medal there. What a swim.”

Kyle Chalmers (far right) is looking ominous.

Chalmers’ heroic performance sets the scene for a mouth-watering match-up with the Americans in the individual 100m event as he looks to defend the title he won in Rio five years ago, when he burst onto the world stage as a teenager.

Commentating for Channel 7, Aussie legend Ian Thorpe described Chalmers’ swim as “mind-blowing” and said it bodes well for his upcoming individual event. However, Thorpe was less convinced by Dressel.

The 24-year-old picked up eight medals, including six golds, at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea and his duel with Chalmers has been billed as a battle of swimming’s biggest alpha males.

Dressel put up a split of 47.26s as commentators suggested he pushed himself too hard because he was trying to propel his team towards a world record.

“Undeniably Dressel was going for a world record there. He went out but tightened up in the last 25,” Thorpe said.

“I think Caleb Dressel looked really rushed and he had predictions out there that he wanted to achieve and I think he put too much pressure on himself without going with the race.

“But I like Kyle Chalmers, the way that he looked — he looked way more comfortable.”

Caeleb Dressel is desperate for an individual Olympic gold medal in the 100m.

The pair’s battle at the 2019 World Championships delivered on all fronts and swimming fans will be licking their lips at the prospect of another showdown in Tokyo.

We were treated to Ariarne Titmus’ incredible win over Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle final and anything even half as thrilling in the men’s 100m would make for essential viewing.

Two years ago, Dressel defended his world title by swimming out of his skin in Gwangju. The American clocked a time of 46.96 seconds — at the time the fastest ever in a textile suit — narrowly missing out on setting a new world record.

It was sweet revenge for Dressel, who finished behind Chalmers at the 2016 Rio Games and the Pan Pacs in 2018.

The Aussie claimed silver in South Korea with what was, at the time, a personal best of 47.08s, and talked up his rivalry with the other big dog of men’s sprinting.

“We’ve had three good results now — Olympics, Pan Pacs and now worlds,” Chalmers said in 2019.

“I enjoy racing against him. He is an unbelievable athlete, a great guy and I love being able to compete against the best guys in the world.

“At the moment he is that guy.

“It is about re-setting and putting as much effort as I can into the next 12 months to challenge him for that gold medal and defending my title (at the Olympics).”

The men’s 100m freestyle final in Tokyo is scheduled for Thursday.