Swimming, Chalmers flies in the 100 freestyle (47’44): ‘Work in the building site makes me go faster…’

Still great times for the Australians at the World Trials in Melbourne. The Tokyo tri-Olympic Kaylee McKeown, 21 years old, already very fast in the 200m medley and 100m backstroke, in the 200m backstroke of which world record holder, Olympic and world champion, swims in 2’03″70, fourth in history: in winter she had brought the limit at 2’03”14. Out of the 10 fastest performances ever, the triolympian boasts 7 (2 by Regan Smith and 1 by Missy Franklin).

Quadarella bypassed

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After the defeat in the 200m freestyle Ariarne Titmus reacts in the 800m by swimming in 8’15″88 (2nd time of 2023 behind the 8’13″56 of the American Katie Ledecky) and beating Lani Pallister in 8’20″56, a time that takes over the 7th place in the world ranking of Simona Quadarella (8’21”14).

The queen race

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Chalmers was right: going to the construction site twice a week helped him in spirit and in water: Kyle, king of the 2016 Games at 17, launches the challenge to Popovici, Pan Zhanle, Dressel with a 47″44 in the 100m freestyle , to say that at the banquet of the queen’s specialty he’s always the one to lead the dance. The Australian 4×100 sl was also born, which the Italians beat in Tokyo. And there’s Flynn Southam, down to 47″77, the well-known Jack Cartwright, who went fastest in the morning in 48″21 and the new 200m freestyle champion, Ky Taylor’s son in the works, 48″60. Chalmers was lightning in the first lap in 22″76: now he’s 2nd in the world behind only the Chinese Pan Zhanle in 47″22. There are already 15 sprinters under 48″ in the season: only the American trials at the end of June are missing before the Fukuoka World Championships (from 23 July in the lane).

Spirit

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Says Chalmers: “I think I’ve found myself hugely in the pool this year and I’m having a lot more fun out of the pool and that’s contributing massively to the results. It really made me enjoy and love swimming, and probably found my passion and reasons why I’m still here. I’ve always asked myself this question: “What are you going to do after swimming? I think it’s something I’ve struggled with quite a bit in the past not knowing where I’m going to go. But this year I started working on a construction site a couple of days a week… I’ve never worked a day in my life apart from swimming, I think this job is fantastic – it’s the best thing in the world. At some point, I’m going to have to transition into the real world, be able to put myself out there in that world where I’m bottom of the ladder, the industry that I love and am passionate about. I’m much happier in the pool, I also think these young guys push me. I feel the energy like I’m a 17 year old kid again getting ready to race, I think this showed in my first 50m race which I probably paid for then. But I know that in five weeks I can swim much faster. It’s been a while now since I passed the Olympic gold mark, and a gold medal at the World Championships is something that has eluded me my entire career and something I desperately want to do before my time has expired”. Finally a message to the relays of the other countries: “We will do something special next month in Japan. I’m very excited about the relays and really proud of Flynn. I feel like I’m just restarting my journey. With so much fun. I can’t wait to do it on the world stage.” The challenge is launched: even to the Azzurri…