Olympic 100m freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers going bush after Tokyo Games were postponed due to coronavirus crisis

Swag? Check. Spearfishing gun? Check. Wetsuit? Check. With pools closed, the Olympics postponed and the world shutting down around him, Kyle Chalmers is going off the grid indefinitely.

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With pools closed, the Olympics postponed and the world shutting down around him, 100m freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers has taken his swag, spear fishing gun and wetsuit and gone off the grid indefinitely.

Adelaide’s 21-year-old Olympic gold medallist has described the “eerie” feeling at the Marion pool on Monday when he trained for the last time knowing the Tokyo Olympics he had spent the past four years preparing for would not be going ahead as planned.

When that became official with the IOC’s announcement they would be postponed until 2021, Chalmers packed his camping gear into his car and headed towards Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula to switch off physically and mentally.

It was only last weekend he was racing in the NSW state championships and says he is in career-best shape and form.

“My cousin’s got a bit of land over there so I’ve taken my swag, my spear gun and my wetsuit and just live off the grid for a while which will be good,” Chalmers told The Advertiser.

“Mentally checking out big-time, I need that, the last four years has revolved around swimming fast this July in Tokyo and I guess it’s a pretty big hit not to do that now.

“So I’m coming here and there’s no point racing home, there’s nothing to race home to, so maybe I’ll be over here for a couple of weeks or a few months, I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.

“I’ve got (teammate) Travis (Mahoney) following me across and he’ll go back to Adelaide in the next few days.

Chalmers says he was in career-best shape and form when the Tokyo Olympic Games were officially postponed this week. Picture: Mark Brake (Getty).

“The hard thing for me to accept is I know I’m in the best shape of my life physically, skinfold-wise, strength-wise, personal bests in and out of the pool, and I’m swimming the fastest I’ve ever done.

“So I was on track to swim pretty well in three months’ time, but I know I can do it (next year), there have been plenty of hurdles I’ve had to overcome in this four-year journey and this is just another obstacle.”

One of the biggest hurdles Chalmers has had to overcome since his shock gold medal at just 18 in Rio in 2016 has been two rounds of heart surgery.

His last training session was on Monday night when the pool was closed to the public and his squad was separated into one swimmer per lane.

As disappointed as he is about the Tokyo Games being put on hold, he says the IOC has made the right call and it has brought a sense of relief.

“It (training this week) was kind of a bit eerie really, you’re used to having a facility with close to a thousand people in there at a time especially over summer, so to go to nothing at all was an interesting feeling, and when things like that got put in place I knew it was coming to an end,” he said.

Chalmers said he was already missing training on Tuesday morning after finishing on Monday. Picture: Brett Costello

“I’ve known about the virus since early January, we were preparing to go to Malaysia and were worrying about whether we’d get there and the health risks, and it’s just gradually got worse.

“In the back of my mind I probably knew the Olympics weren’t going ahead, but it’s really only last week we were competing at the NSW state championships in Sydney and the NBA got cancelled, and they brought in restrictions in Australia, and it’s been quite hard not motivating yourself in training but trying to stay positive that the Games were going ahead.

“Once they made the call it was a relief but also a massive scare. I’ve been swimming since I was nine years old and I’ve never had six months out of the water at the one time, so it will be interesting to see how we go.

“I am a person who probably thought that as soon as swimming was done I’d never get back in the pool … but Monday was our last training session and I knew that in the afternoon and I guess I was making sure I was grateful for every last lap I got in.

“And by Tuesday morning I was already missing it, as an athlete you’re so used to routine that it freaks you out getting out of those routines.

“I know I’ve got plenty of things away from swimming to keep myself going and there are so many things that I’m grateful for and positive about so I’ll be sweet.

“But there might be other guys on the swim team who are potentially looking at retirement or are quite stressed.

“At the end of the day we are in a better position than a lot of people in the world. People are losing their jobs and even their lives so for me I see a big role in promoting what is going on on my social media platforms and spreading the word and ensuring people aren’t being selfish.

“It’s important to stay isolated and not spread the virus.”

When he does return to physical training, Chalmers said he would set up his own home gym and try swimming in a river, the ocean or a backyard pool if or when it is safe to do so.

Originally published as Olympic 100m freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers going bush after Tokyo Games were postponed due to coronavirus crisis