KYLE CHALMERS

NATIONALITY Australian
HOMETOWN Born in Port Lincoln but lives in Adelaide
DATE OF BIRTH 25/06/1998
DISCIPLINE Freestyle
CLUB/COLLEGE Marion SC
COACH Peter Bishop
FOLLOW KYLE ON
“You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic”

BIOGRAPHY

When Kyle Chalmers won the 100m freestyle at Rio 2016, he was just a month past his 18th birthday and the youngest individual male champion since fellow Australian Ian Thorpe.

And awaiting him back home was Cock the Croc, a freshwater crocodile that Kyle believes could grow to three metres long.

At the start of 2020 he had almost 500 reptiles thanks to a good breeding season.

He told The Guardian: “Sitting in my reptile room for me is equivalent to going out for a few beers with my mates. They have definitely helped me away from the pool.”

“It gives me that healthy adrenaline hit that I need when I go out there and open an enclosure and a snake wants to jump out and bite me, or a crocodile latches onto my finger and takes a bit of blood.”

Kyle – nicknamed ‘Big Tuna’ - had shown enormous promise since starting with his first coach, Carolyn Veldhuyzen, at St Joseph’s School, Port Lincoln in South Australia.

He set about taking apart Thorpe’s age group records – one time competing against the advice of a doctor because he had broken his finger during AFL training.

Australian rules football is a huge passion for Kyle whose love for the game was instilled by his father Brett – who played for the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power in the AFL - and he revealed last year that Geelong Cats and Port had reached out to him for a Category B Rookie spot.

He hasn’t ruled out a move to the AFL in the future although there are more races to be won.

GENERAL QUICK FACTS

Favorite sportsperson or team (other than swimming)
NBA basketball player and three-time Olympic champion Kevin Durant
Favorite vacation spot and why
Port Lincoln. It is home for me where I enjoy seeing my family and friends and going fishing
Public person you admire
Kevin Durant
Favorite book(s)/author(s)
‘The Happiest Man on Earth’ by Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku
Items you’d want on a desert island
Aussie rules football, spear gun for fishing and my swag/pillow.
If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?
Zach Galfianakis from The Hangover
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Being able to fly. I get bored driving, so I think flying everywhere would resolve that issue
If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
Just my name. I want to get to a point where my name is very powerful and well known, so it would be cool having my name sell books.
What you’d like to do in your life after swimming
Play football and basketball with my mates, and live a normal lifestyle

SWIMMING QUICK FACTS

Proudest moment in swimming
Getting the 100m Freestyle short-course world record at the 2021 World Cup in Kazan
Least favorite part of swimming
Getting up early six days a week, 50 weeks of the year.
Funniest moment in swimming
My bathers falling down while doing underwater camera filming in training
Favorite/least favorite training set and why
My least favourite is anything with kick involved. After having shoulder surgery twice I have spent a lot of time doing kick, so I have a very poor relationship with it. My favourite is anything aerobic with short rest, I love that stuff
Best piece of equipment and why
Fins, they make everything faster.
Favorite Food after training
Anything my mum or housemates cook, so it’s prepared and ready for me to eat as soon as I get home
Most annoying type of swimmer
People who don’t put in the effort and are lazy in training
Favorite Pool in the world and why
My favourite pool is my home pool in Adelaide. It’s such a great facility and when I race there I always have a lot of support in the crowd

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, FUKUOKA
GOLD 100m Freestyle
GOLD 4x100m Freestyle Relay
GOLD 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x200m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Medley Relay
2022 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, MELBOURNE
GOLD 100m Freestyle
GOLD 4x100m Medley Relay
GOLD 4x50m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x50m Mixed Medley Relay
SILVER 4x100m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x200m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x50m Medley Relay
2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2020 OLYMPIC GAMES, TOKYO
SILVER 100m Freestyle
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x200m Freestyle Relay
2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, GWANGJU
GOLD 4x200m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 100m Freestyle
SILVER 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
2018 PAN-PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS, TOKYO
GOLD 100m Freestyle
SILVER 4x100m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x200m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Medley Relay
2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES, GOLD COAST
GOLD 200m Freestyle
GOLD 4x100m Freestyle Relay
GOLD 4x200m Freestyle Relay
GOLD 4x100m Medley Relay
SILVER 100m Freestyle
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES, RIO DE JANEIRO
GOLD 100m Freestyle
BRONZE 4x100m Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Medley Relay
2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, KAZAN
SILVER 4x100m Medley Relay
2015 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, SINGAPORE
GOLD 50m Freestyle
GOLD 100m Freestyle
GOLD 4x100m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x200m Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay
SILVER 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Medley Relay
2014 SUMMER YOUTH OLYMPICS, NANJING
BRONZE 4x100m Medley Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay
BRONZE 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay

INSIDE KYLE’S BAG

Cobra Ultra Swipe Mirror
Powerskin Carbon Core Fx Jammer
Aquaforce Wave Cap
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