- Kyle Chalmers sweeps 100m freestyle heat in Paris
- The Australian easily advanced to the semi-finals of the event.
- He clocked 48.07 seconds when he hit the wall.
Kyle Chalmers is enjoying the biggest swimming stage of all, but he hopes others can too.
Chalmers eased into the Olympic semifinals of the men’s 100-meter freestyle with a moderate effort in Tuesday morning’s heat.
The Australian, who won gold in the event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and silver at the Tokyo Games three years ago, clocked 48.07 seconds.
His time was the sixth fastest in the qualifying rounds, but his compatriot William Yang (48.46) did not advance.
Chalmers, despite being 26 years old (an elder statesman in swimming terms), says he has never wavered in believing he can add more gold to his Olympic medal collection.
“Every race I enter, I back myself,” he said.
“I have to be confident and believe in myself that I can win to be in the race, so I like to think I have every chance.”
Halfway through the nine days of competition in the pool, no world records have been broken, a fact that does not surprise Chalmers too much.
Kyle Chalmers has sent an important message to his rivals in the men’s 100m freestyle
The 26-year-old crashed into the wall with a time of 48.07 seconds in Tuesday’s heat.
“There’s a lot of pressure and expectations that people put on themselves, it’s the Olympics,” she said.
‘A lot of people haven’t swum at the Olympics before, so I think the nervous energy, having 17,000 people in the audience, is crazy.
“I personally love it, but I think people crumble under that pressure.”
The Australian duo of Mollie O’Callaghan, the morning after her triumph in the 200m freestyle, and Shayna Jack advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s 100m.
O’Callaghan (53.27) and Jack (53.40) took fifth and sixth place respectively in Tuesday’s heats.
His teammate Zac Stubblety-Cook made a strong start to his defence of the men’s 200m breaststroke title.
Stubblety-Cook was the second fastest into the semi-finals, finishing his heat in two minutes 09.91 seconds, while teammate Joshua Yong (2:10.68, 14th) also advanced.
Chalmers is hoping to regain the gold he won in Rio, after having won silver in Tokyo.
Australia’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Kai Taylor, Zac Incerti, Flynn Southam and Thomas Neill secured a place in Tuesday night’s medal race, finishing fourth in the heats in 7:05.63.
But her Dolphins teammate Lani Pallister, who tested positive for COVID, withdrew from Tuesday’s heats of the women’s 1,500m freestyle.
Compatriot Moesha Johnson (16:04.02) advanced to the medal race with the fifth-fastest time in the heats.
Australia’s Matt Temple failed to advance in the heats of the men’s 200m butterfly, finishing 23rd in 1:57.39.