Swimming champion Kyle Chalmers’ surprise tattoo confession

Olympic swimming gold medallist Kyle Chalmers has made a shock admission as he prepares for next year’s Paris Games.

Just some of Kyle Chalmers’ ink. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Freestyle great Kyle Chalmers is among Australia’s most decorated swimmers at Olympic and world championship level.

The 25-year-old is on track for a tilt at a third straight medal in the 100m freestyle at next year’s Olympics in Paris, following gold in 2016 and silver four years later.

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Outside of his accomplishments in the pool, which include a first individual title in Fukuoka this year among five world championship gold medals, Chalmers is also known for a very different type of decoration.

Namely, tattoos.

The South Australian is covered in ink, including the distinctive crown and wings across his chest with the German phrase “nur die starken überleben”, which means “only the strong survive”.

So it came as a surprise when Chalmers made this confession in a chat with The Daily Telegraph.

Just some of Kyle Chalmers’ ink. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

“I regret them all,” he said of his tattoos. “If I had my time again, I would probably have none.

“But now I am so deep into it that it is just an addiction.

“I look back at photos of me in 2016 and it would be interesting to know what it would be like if I didn’t have any tattoos.

“But most of them are very meaningful and I do love them.

“It tells my story, it is my journal.”

Chalmers has joked in the past that part of the reason for his vast number of tatts is his mum told him to stop getting them some years ago.

What began with his Australian swim team number 761 on his wrist in Roman numerals as a 16-year-old has evolved into a fascinating array of designs.

Chalmers at the 2016 Olympics. Picture: Alex Coppel.

And at this year’s World Championships in Japan. (Photo by MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP)

“I’ve got Snoop Dogg, Freddie Mercury, my brother’s birth year, the postcode for Port Lincoln,” he said.

“I’ve got cherubs on each leg. My most recent is the Port Lincoln Tuna I’ve got on my leg. “They all mean something to me to an extent.”

Chalmers has faced a number of obstacles in his career, undergoing repeated surgeries for a long-term heart condition and problems with his shoulders.

He was quick to refute recent suggestions he would be retiring after the Paris Olympics and says he can’t wait to compete at his third Games.

“I am really looking forward to it being an Olympic year again and hopefully having my chance to race again in Paris,” he said.

“At the moment I am training as hard as I possibly can to get myself in the best physical condition going into Paris.”

The Australian swimming trials for the 2024 Olympics are in June next year, with the Paris Games then getting underway with the opening ceremony on 26 July.