Latest news with #KyleChalmers
Reuters
6 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Taylor keeps one eye on Olympics as Australia name world championships squad
June 15 (Reuters) - Coach Rohan Taylor is confident Australia can challenge China and the United States for dominance in the pool after selecting a team that features a mix of youth and experience for next month's world swimming championships in Singapore. Cam McEvoy will be appearing at a record seventh world championships after the 31-year-old booked his spot on the team with a world-best swim of 21.30 seconds to win the 50 metres freestyle at the Australian swimming trials in Adelaide. He will be joined by Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O'Callaghan and Kyle Chalmers as they look to reclaim their world titles after skipping the 2024 championships, while Isaac Cooper will attempt to defend the gold medal he won in Doha in the 50m breaststroke. Thirty-four swimmers have been selected for the pool events, which will run from July 27 to August 3, while six will compete in the open water disciplines from July 15 to 20 as the team begins their build-up to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. "I am excited by what this team can do over the next four years," Taylor said as the squad was selected on Saturday. "This is the beginning of the third Olympic campaign I have been the head coach of, and this team has a strong nucleus in place. "The end goal is L.A., but to be great in L.A. this very young team, which boasts 10 rookies, is going to learn what is needed on the global stage in Singapore. "This is a very balanced program that I know can challenge the very best swimmers in the world. We have to be purposeful about what we do as we don't have the abundance of numbers of the likes of U.S. and China." Sienna Toohey is the youngest member of the squad, the 16-year-old securing a spot on the team for the first time after winning the women's 100m breaststroke at the trials in a new personal best. Four of the Australian team that won gold in the team event in the open water category - Chelsea Gubecka, Moesha Johnson, Kyle Lee, Nick Sloman - have been selected alongside newcomers Tayla Martin and Thomas Raymond.
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers eyes butterfly at the LA Games
Olympic champion freestyle swimmer Kyle Chalmers has revealed he intends to race in the 50m butterfly in the 2028 LA Olympics after winning the national trials final in Adelaide ahead of the World Championships. An Olympic gold and silver medallist in the 100m freestyle, Chalmers swam a 22.89 second time to win the final and add to what had been a successful week. He said butterfly was the stroke he first wanted to swim as a young member of the Dolphins. 'I think the 50 fly will definitely be part of the LA program,' Chalmers said. 'I've achieved everything the 100 freestyle has to offer so it is really nice to have a different goal to think about. 'In 2014 I finished second at trials and it would've been the first team I qualified for if they were taking 50 swimmers back then. 'I've always wanted to swim butterfly and it would be nice to go back to the stroke I started swimming and probably even my strongest stroke.' Chalmers has put significant work into his 50m freestyle speed under new coach Shaun Curtis in an attempt to make his 100m race faster after finishing with a silver medal in the event at Paris. While he has not yet trained butterfly, he was now confident he could pursue the stroke under new staff and amid newfound physical strength. 'This swim was so good for my confidence but my body is now allowing me to do that - it's a demanding stroke to train but my shoulders and the rest of my body are feeling really good right now. 'It's incredible to see the work paying off and it's so special to have a coach like Shaun Curtis and physiologist like Jamie Stanley who believe in me so much, probably more than I believe in myself. 'To be honest, after Paris, seeing guys go 46 or 46.4 (in the 100 freestyle), I struggled to believe I'd be able to do that but having coaches who truly believe I'm capable and are sacrificing their time to be at my training, I'm just trying to make them as proud as I can and give back to them they have a lot of faith in me.' Superstar 50m freestyle swimmer Cam McEvoy also competed in the trials final but was disqualified for moving on the starting blocks. He decided not to protest but will still compete individually in the 50m freestyle at the World Championships in Singapore next month. HARRIS REFINDS LOVE FOR SWIMMING Olympic gold medallist Meg Harris said she was refinding her love and motivation for swimming in 2025 after an impressive win in the 50m freestyle final during the Australian trials. The 23-year-old, who won a gold in the Paris Olympics 4x100m medley relay and silver in the 50m freestyle, clocked a strong 24.17 second time in Adelaide to claim the final ahead of next month's World Championships in Singapore. Despite also being a standout 100m swimmer, Harris said working on her 50m swim had been part of her process of finding motivation for the sport after the post-Olympic come down. 'I'm pretty happy, I've been focusing on that this year,' Harris said of her time. 'I definitely would have liked to get under 24 seconds but I can't be happier with the swim - I'm on the team so it's on to the World Champs now. 'I definitely love the 100 but this year I was focusing on finding love and motivation for the sport again and the little things I enjoy about it. 'One of those was that I did so well in the 50 last year so I wanted to see if I had any potential in that and focus on that.' Harris was thrilled with her 50m race during the Paris Olympics and wanted to compete in that event again in LA 2028, along with the 100m freestyle. She said it was her experience in Paris which kept her motivated ahead of the World Championships and LA further down the track. 'Honestly, sometimes I don't think about it (Paris) but then it comes in waves and shocks me but I loved that race and I had so much fun and just enjoyed it. 'It was incredible, the whole experience, not just the 50m swim. 'Finding motivation again, coming off of such a high in Tokyo I didn't experience a low like I did after Paris, but I just needed to figure out what's next and figure out a different way to approach the sport. 'I love swimming, I love racing…going into LA I want to do really well in the 100 but I also now need to focus on how I'm going to get there and working on my 50 speed is important.' Olivia Wunsch and Alex Perkins tied for second place in the trials final, each finishing with a 24.70 qualified time for the World Championships. Both already in the team for Singapore, they said they will discuss their schedules with their coaches. Perkins, who is predominantly a butterfly swimmer, said she was surprised by her result. 'I wasn't expecting that so I need to go back and talk to my coach, 50 free wasn't really on the cards,' she said. 'It was a lot of fun, we don't really know what will be decided yet but we'll suss it out with the team.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aussie swim legend cashing in on fresh feelings
Kyle Chalmers has never felt this way before. "It has been a long time since my body has felt this good, if ever, in my career," the big fish of Australian swimming said. Six months after thinking he'd quit swimming, Chalmers' extraordinary career has hit yet another height. On Thursday night at Australia's selection trials for the looming world titles, he clocked his fastest 100m freestyle on home soil - 47.29 seconds. That's quicker than his 2016 Olympic gold swim in the event (47.58); faster than his silver medal at last year's Olympics (47.48). And he's now setting sights on his personal best of 47.08, achieved twice - including when winning Olympic silver in 2021 in Tokyo. Just how is Chalmers, a fortnight shy of his 27th birthday on June 25, defying an age when many swimmers start treading water? His answer is two-fold: mental and physical. "I'm just extremely happy," Chalmers said. "I have got ... a fiancee who's incredible, I'm preparing to be a dad, living on a farm. "There's so many amazing things going on outside of the pool that it allows me to just come here and have fun." Chalmers has won a mind-boggling 74 international medals, including nine at the Olympics; a dozen at world championships; nine more at Commonwealth Games. His legend is assured. "I'm not here with pressure and expectation. Anything I achieve from this point is just icing on the cake of my career," Chalmers said. Then, he added his second reason: "I'm not injured at the moment either." Chalmers has had heart surgery, three times, for a non-life threatening condition which caused a rapid heartbeat. He's had shoulder operations; lower back problems requiring repeated cortisone injections; ankle surgery after being hurt playing Australian Rules football in September 2023. "That injury was probably the worst of them all," he said. "I fully snapped all the ligaments holding my lower leg bones together, it was a terrible injury." But now? When was the last time he physically felt as good? "Probably 2020," he said, before fact-checking himself. "Actually, that's a lie. I had my lower back problems before that - I had about six cortisones in my back in the lead in to 2020. "Then my shoulders went on me. "Those five years through to Paris last year were very challenging." Even when Chalmers burst to fame as an 18-year-old by winning Olympic gold in 2016, he was hurting. "Even then, I was having problems with growth spurts so I was cramping and growing and in pain," he said. "Now, I'm just doing whatever I want to do and it seems to be working. "I've seen the physio twice this whole year compared to the lead up to Tokyo (Olympics of 2021) when I was seeing a physio every single day, if not twice a day. "It has been an amazing turnaround and I'm stoked my body is feeling this good. "And that's why I want to capitalise on it while I can, because I know it's not going to feel this good forever."
Perth Now
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Aussie swim legend cashing in on fresh feelings
Kyle Chalmers has never felt this way before. "It has been a long time since my body has felt this good, if ever, in my career," the big fish of Australian swimming said. Six months after thinking he'd quit swimming, Chalmers' extraordinary career has hit yet another height. On Thursday night at Australia's selection trials for the looming world titles, he clocked his fastest 100m freestyle on home soil - 47.29 seconds. That's quicker than his 2016 Olympic gold swim in the event (47.58); faster than his silver medal at last year's Olympics (47.48). And he's now setting sights on his personal best of 47.08, achieved twice - including when winning Olympic silver in 2021 in Tokyo. Just how is Chalmers, a fortnight shy of his 27th birthday on June 25, defying an age when many swimmers start treading water? His answer is two-fold: mental and physical. "I'm just extremely happy," Chalmers said. "I have got ... a fiancee who's incredible, I'm preparing to be a dad, living on a farm. "There's so many amazing things going on outside of the pool that it allows me to just come here and have fun." Chalmers has won a mind-boggling 74 international medals, including nine at the Olympics; a dozen at world championships; nine more at Commonwealth Games. His legend is assured. "I'm not here with pressure and expectation. Anything I achieve from this point is just icing on the cake of my career," Chalmers said. Then, he added his second reason: "I'm not injured at the moment either." Chalmers has had heart surgery, three times, for a non-life threatening condition which caused a rapid heartbeat. He's had shoulder operations; lower back problems requiring repeated cortisone injections; ankle surgery after being hurt playing Australian Rules football in September 2023. "That injury was probably the worst of them all," he said. "I fully snapped all the ligaments holding my lower leg bones together, it was a terrible injury." But now? When was the last time he physically felt as good? "Probably 2020," he said, before fact-checking himself. "Actually, that's a lie. I had my lower back problems before that - I had about six cortisones in my back in the lead in to 2020. "Then my shoulders went on me. "Those five years through to Paris last year were very challenging." Even when Chalmers burst to fame as an 18-year-old by winning Olympic gold in 2016, he was hurting. "Even then, I was having problems with growth spurts so I was cramping and growing and in pain," he said. "Now, I'm just doing whatever I want to do and it seems to be working. "I've seen the physio twice this whole year compared to the lead up to Tokyo (Olympics of 2021) when I was seeing a physio every single day, if not twice a day. "It has been an amazing turnaround and I'm stoked my body is feeling this good. "And that's why I want to capitalise on it while I can, because I know it's not going to feel this good forever."
Sydney Morning Herald
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
McEvoy first, Chalmers second in 50m dash
Cameron McEvoy wins the men's 50m freestyle and Kyle Chalmers touches second at the 2025 Australian trials.
