King Kyle primed to retake crown in 100m showdown
By Rob Harris
Paris: Kyle Chalmers isn’t fussed by all this talk about whether the Paris pool is fast or slow. All he wants to do is touch the wall first.
The 26-year-old stormed into the men’s 100m freestyle final – his third in succession – on day four of Olympic competition, setting up a showdown with Chinese rival Pan Zhanle with an aim to win back his Olympic crown.
Kyle Chalmers is unfazed by the task ahead of him.Credit: Getty Images
And eight years after he burst on to the world stage at Rio, there was an omen for the South Australian. His winning semi-final time of 47.58 seconds was the same he swam back then to win gold.
“I knew that I had to do something big just to make sure I could guarantee my spot into the final,” he said post race, acknowledging the symmetry. “Maybe swimming fans remember times, but average punters remember who won the gold medal or who won what medal. So that’s all that matters to me.”
Chalmers fell short of gold by just 0.06 of a second at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, yet the speedster, who can only be described as a brute on his form so far these Games, says the shape he’s in now “definitely” tops his fitness in Japan.
That’s despite his battle with a niggling back injury, having revealed at the Olympics trials that a bulging disc and a degenerative spine had, at one stage, left him doubting he could do enough to get on the Olympic team.
Having shone two nights ago, unleashing a thunderous final leg to drag Australia into the silver medal behind the United States in the 4x100m relay, Chalmers is pumped to have another chance at glory.
He has qualified second-fastest for the final, which will take place in the early hours of Thursday morning AEST, with Pan going quickest with a time of 47.21 seconds. Pan holds the world record (46.80) and Chalmers has never broken the 47-second barrier. But he says his in a good place.
“I feel like leading into trials, I was in the best shape of my life. So my back is the best I can possibly get it,” he said after qualifying.
“ I think I’ve got to have the confidence and belief in myself that I can win and be in the race. I like to think I’m every chance, and I’m doing everything I can to make my country proud.”
The pool at La Defense Arena has not seen any world records fall and murmurs have rippled through the sport that the pool is the problem. Some say it’s because of the pool’s depth.
The Paris pool is 2.15m deep, safely above the minimum of 2m but shy of the standard 3m depth of the past four Olympics and other international championships. It is partly because of its temporary nature and a desire to fit more fans in the arena.
But Chalmers says everyone has the same opportunity and everyone swims in the same pool.
“I don’t think it matters about time at the Olympic Games,” he says. “I think it’s proven over the first three nights of competition that it’s whoever gets a hand on the wall first. That’s what’s remembered in history.”
“I’m a racer. It doesn’t matter whether I’m racing here in Paris or a local pool in country South Australia. It’s all about winning that race in the pool. Knowing it’s an Olympic final and the medals are on the line is what’s going to get me over the line and make me seem a whole lot faster.”
In another successful night for Australia, the men’s 4x200m relay swimmers snared bronze behind Britain and the United States – the first of these Olympics and a repeat of Tokyo and last year’s world championships.
Tasmanian Max Giuliani led out the team to finish his leg in fourth-place, before Flynn Southam moved them into third. Elijah Winnington maintained their position before Thomas Neill brought them home.
In a historic night, Irish trailblazer Daniel Wiffen became his nation’s first man to win an Olympic swimming medal with 800m freestyle gold. Hometown hero Leon Marchand, who faced the daunting task of competing in four events in one day, also shone.
Marchand, who claimed gold in the 400m medley on Sunday, now hopes to do what even Michael Phelps couldn’t do and win the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke just hours apart on Wednesday night.
Australia’s defending Olympic champion, Zac Stubblety-Cook, qualified for the 200m breaststroke in second – .46 seconds behind Marchand – while Western Australian Joshua Yong surprised by making the final in eighth place.
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