Kyle Chalmers, (born 25 June 1998) is an Australian competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 100 metre freestyle, 4×100 metre medley relay, and long course 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay. He is the Oceanian and Australian record holder in the short course 50 metre butterfly and 50 metre freestyle.

At the 2014 Oceania Swimming Championships, Chalmers won the Oceania title in the 50 metre butterfly and 100 metre freestyle. He was the 2016 Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro in the 100 metre freestyle, winning the gold medal in world junior record time. In 2018, he was Commonwealth Games champion in the 200 metre freestyle. He also won a gold medal in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and a silver medal at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju in the 100 metre freestyle. He won his second Olympic medal in the 100 metre freestyle Olympic Games event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning the silver medal with a time of 47.08 in the final. In 2022, he won the gold medal in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Short Course Championships. He is most well known for his clutch performing back-end splits.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chalmers won the silver medal in the 100m freestyle with a time of 47.48 seconds. In the Men's 4x100m freestyle relay final, he delivered an anchor leg split of 46.59 seconds, the fastest of any swimmer in the race, helping his team secure the silver medal.

Early life Chalmers was born in Port Lincoln, South Australia and is the son of former Australian rules football player Brett Chalmers. He attended Saint Josephs School Port Lincoln as a young child, on the "Tenison" team. Having moved to Adelaide to pursue better schooling and sporting opportunities, he attended Immanuel College in South Australia. Chalmers has Supraventricular tachycardia.

Career 2014

In May 2014, Chalmers competed at the Oceania Championships in Auckland. He won the gold medal in the 50 m butterfly with a time of 24.35.Commings, Jeff (20 May 2014). "Matthew Stanley, Kyle Chalmers Post Quick Swims on Day One of Oceania Championships". Swimming World. Retrieved 17 April 2022. He also won the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle, swimming a time of 50.71. In his other individual events, he placed fourth in the 50 m freestyle final, with a time of 23.48 seconds, and eighth in the preliminary heats of the 100 m butterfly with a time of 56.96 before withdrawing from the final. For his relay events, he won a gold medal as part of the mixed 4 × 50 m freestyle relay, splitting 23.26 for the second leg of the relay in the final; a silver medal leading-off the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay in 51.65 seconds in the final; and a gold medal in the mixed 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, splitting 50.84 on the third leg.Swimming New Zealand (23 May 2014). "10th Oceania Swimming Championships: Results". mygameday.app. Retrieved 17 April 2022.Keith, Braden (21 May 2014). "6 More Medals for Hosts New Zealand to 5 For Australia on Oceania Day 2 Champs". SwimSwam. Retrieved 17 April 2022.

In August 2014, Chalmers competed at the Youth Olympics in Nanjing. He won three bronze medals, one in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, one in the mixed 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, and one in the mixed 4 × 100 m medley relay, as well as placing fifth in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, ninth in the 50 m butterfly, eleventh in the 50 m freestyle, fifteenth in the 100 m freestyle, and not starting the 200 m freestyle."Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games: Official Results Book Swimming". Omega Timing; Atos. Version 2.0. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2022.

2015 In August 2015, Chalmers made his Australian team debut at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. Swimming the heats of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, he split 47.92 on the second leg. Australia finished thirteenth in a time of 3:16.34.FINA (2 August 2015). "16th FINA World Championships Kazan (RUS): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. Chalmers' split was the fastest amongst the team, which led to his selection for the 4 × 100 m medley relay. He split 47.86 in the heats and was replaced by Cameron McEvoy in the final. Australia eventually won the silver medal.FINA (9 August 2015). "16th FINA World Championships Kazan (RUS): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022.FINA (9 August 2015). "16th FINA World Championships Kazan (RUS): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022.

Later in the month, Chalmers competed at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Singapore.FINA (30 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Complete Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022.McKern, James (10 August 2016). "Who is Australia's newest golden boy?". ESPN. Retrieved 30 March 2022. His first event was the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, where he split 48.41 on the second leg and won the gold medal in a time of 3:17.39.FINA (25 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. He then competed in the mixed 4 × 100 m medley relay, splitting 47.68 on the freestyle leg; Australia won the silver medal with a final time of 3:48.27.FINA (26 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. Swimming the second leg of the mixed 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, he split 48.89 and won the silver medal in an overall time of 3:28.59.FINA (27 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. Chalmers then recorded 22.19 to win the gold medal in the 50 m freestyle.FINA (28 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. Later in the session, he won a silver medal in 4 × 200 m freestyle relay in 7:17.76; he split 1:50.13 on the third leg.FINA (28 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. On the final day of competition, Chalmers competed in two events. First was the 100 m freestyle, where he won the gold medal in a time of 48.47, breaking the championship record of 48.87 seconds set by Brazil's Pedro Spajari in the semifinals.FINA (30 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022. Chalmers' final event was the 4 × 100 m medley relay, where he split 48.38 on the freestyle leg. Australia won the bronze medal in 3:40.21.FINA (30 August 2015). "5th FINA World Junior Championships 2015 Singapore (SIN): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 30 March 2022.

2016–2017

At the 2016 Australian Championships in Adelaide, Chalmers qualified for the Olympics by finishing second in the 100 m freestyle. He broke the world junior record with a time of 48.03.

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Chalmers' first event was the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. He split 47.37 on the second leg, and Australia won the bronze medal. Chalmers then competed in the 100 m freestyle. He broke the world junior record in the heats and semifinals, recording times of 47.90 and 47.88, respectively. In the final, Chalmers was in seventh place at the 50 m mark, but managed to win the gold medal in a time of 47.58. This broke the world junior record again, and made him the first Australian to win the event since Michael Wenden in 1968. Chalmers then competed in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Splitting 46.72 on the anchor leg, he secured another bronze medal, in a final time of 3:29.93.

Chalmers then competed in the 2016 World Cup, which was held in short course. At the Singapore stop, he recorded 46.61 in the 100 m freestyle to break the world junior record.Keith, Braden (21 October 2016). "Kyle Chalmers Sets World Junior Record In 100 Free In Singapore". SwimSwam. Retrieved 14 October 2021. Four days later, at the Tokyo stop, he lowered the mark to 46.12.Ortegon, Karl (25 October 2016). "Four Days Later, Kyle Chalmers Re-Smashes 100 SCM Free WJR In Tokyo". SwimSwam. Retrieved 14 October 2021.

In April 2017, Chalmers qualified for the World Championships in Budapest. However, in May, he withdrew from the team to undergo heart surgery. He returned to competition in October 2017.

2018

In April 2018, Chalmers' competed at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, which was his first international competition post-operation. On the second day of competition, he competed in two events. The first of which was the 200 m freestyle, where he recorded a time of 1:45.56 to win the gold medal.Gold Coast 2018 (6 April 2018). "Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results". Longines. Retrieved 26 March 2022. He then anchored the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, splitting 48.25; Australia won the gold medal in a time of 3:12.96."Le Clos record bid flops as Aussies rule the pool". France 24. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2022.Gold Coast 2018 (6 April 2018). "Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results". Longines. Retrieved 26 March 2022. On day four, he again swam in two events. In the 100 m freestyle, he tied with South Africa's Chad le Clos to win the silver medal in a time of 48.15.Gold Coast 2018 (8 April 2018). "Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results". Longines. Retrieved 26 March 2022.Isaacson, David (8 April 2018). "Chad Le Clos gets silver in 100m freestyle duel". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 16 April 2022. He then split 1:46.47 on the second leg of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, winning the gold medal in a games record time of 7:05.97.Gold Coast 2018 (8 April 2018). "Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results". Longines. Retrieved 26 March 2022. On the final day of competition, Chalmers anchored the 4 × 100 m medley relay in 47.25, securing the gold medal in a games record time of 3:31.04.Gold Coast 2018 (10 April 2018). "Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games: Swimming Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Longines. Retrieved 26 March 2022.

In August 2018, Chalmers competed at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. On day one, he placed ninth in the 200 m freestyle heats, before withdrawing from the B-final."Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 2018: Total Ranking". Seiko. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2022. On day two, he won the gold medal in the 100 m freestyle with a time of 48.00 seconds."Australia takes first, second place in men's 100m". NBC Sports. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2022. He then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, splitting 1:46.73 on the second leg; Australia won the silver medal in a time of 7:04.70. The following day, he competed in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, splitting 47.50. Australia recorded an overall time of 3:12.53 to initially finished third, but were promoted to the silver medal position after the US were disqualified for failing to swim in their nominated order. Chalmers concluded the competition with the 4 × 100 m medley relay, splitting 46.91 on the freestyle leg. Australia won the bronze medal in a time of 3:30.52.

2019–2020