- Emma McKeon doesn’t know what the future holds for her
- McKeon retired from swimming after the Olympics.
- But Kyle Chalmers has made his position very clear
Retired swimmer Emma McKeon, Australia’s most successful Olympian, is unsure what the future holds for her.
But Kyle Chalmers knows what he has in mind: training even harder to extend his stellar swimming career for as long as possible.
McKeon’s historic Olympic career ends with an Australian record six gold medals among her haul of 14 medals, including three silver and five bronze.
“I’ll definitely miss him,” McKeon said Monday.
‘It has given me many wonderful relationships and great experiences and has made me the person I am.
“I will miss training and racing, but I am definitely ready for the next stage of my life and I am excited.”
The 30-year-old triple Olympian is not sure exactly what her life will be like outside the pool, but she is leaving feeling satisfied.
“I’m very happy that I was able to step up when the time came to participate in the Olympic Games,” she said.
Emma McKeon has sent a cryptic message about her life after swimming
Australia’s greatest Olympian of all time retires from swimming after Paris Games
Chalmers won two silver medals and one bronze in Paris and has nine career medals, equalling Ian Thorpe’s record for most Olympic medals by an Australian.
The 26-year-old has vowed to continue swimming.
“My mind is very strong, what matters is how well my body can keep up,” Chalmers said Monday.
But Chalmers said the proverbial goals have changed in his favorite event, the 100-meter freestyle.
In Paris, Chalmers won silver behind China’s Pan Zhanle, who broke his own world record by clocking 46.40 seconds.
In Sunday night’s medley relay, the Chinese swimmer recorded the fastest men’s 100m freestyle time in history (45.92) to cement his team’s gold medal-winning status.
But his teammate Kyle Chalmers has made his ambitions very clear.
Individual relay times only count as records if the time is produced on the first leg: Pan’s split time was produced on the last leg.
“I don’t know what else I could do in terms of training to get there… I’m going to have to train even harder now to be competitive with him,” Chalmers said.
‘I’m going to take this as motivation and do everything I can to try to match those times.
‘I want to be competitive, I don’t want to finish second or third.
“Now it’s my turn to improve and I’m looking forward to taking on that challenge.”
