16-year old sensation Kyle Chalmers has demolished the Australian Age Record for 16-year old boys by swimming a 48.89 in the semi-finals on Saturday and to make himself the second qualifier through to the final at the 2015 Australian Swimming Championships & World Championship Trials.
That annihilated the old age group record of 49.70 done in 2011 by Cameron McEvoy – the one swimmer who was faster than Chalmers on Monday evening in Sydney, now at 20-years old.
In terms of stature, McEvoy and Chalmers couldn’t be more different. McEvoy is somewhere around 6 feet tall, which is considered small for a male sprinter of his caliber. The wunderkind Chalmers, on the other hand, is already somewhere north of 6’4″, with massive size 15 feet.
Together, however, the young two seem poised and perched, ready to take over the Australian sprinting group from James Magnussen, who was equally talented in a similar age bracket, but was only 49.11 in these semi-finals to sit 4th and in position to battle for a relay spot.
Though there is no fool-proof database of global times for 16-year olds, as far as we can tell, this makes Chalmers the youngest swimmer to ever break 49-second in the event. The next-fastest 16-year old that we could find was American Caeleb Dressel, who swam 49.28 in 2013.
See full Monday recap, including all 16 semi-finalists faster than 50 seconds, here.
Honestly I give it to kyle he’s a hard worker but he is a snob of a kid. Has no respect for anyone else.. I have been swimming against and with him in multiple occasions and trust me he has the worst personality ……… But well done Kyle
48.69, 4th in the final, fastest backend in the field.
Just gonna leave this here… I used Fina’s rankings from 1/9/13 till today. So if there are omissions or errors- blame Fina 🙂
Listed as Country, followed by:
Fina B cuts (including A cuts)
Fina A cuts
London Top 16 prelims cuts
London Top 8 semifinals cuts
London Top 3 finals cuts
AUS- 45, 6, 3, 2, 2
BRA- 42, 8, 6, 2, 0
CAN- 19, 2, 1, 0, 0
CHI- 7, 2, 1, 1, 1
FRA- 15, 8, 6, 2, 0
GBR- 32, 2, 1, 0, 0
NED- 9, 1, 1, 1, 0
RUS- 37, 8, 6, 2, 0
USA- 81, 13, 6, 1, 0
So… Read more »
What I also realized is that I think the other 5 nations all seem to have 4 or 5 of their 6 for Rio already listed above… where there is a lot more uncertainty with the USA list of 6… I wouldn’t bet on 3 of them. The uncertainty comes from the fact that we don’t even have any idea if Grevers will attempt to make the relay, nor do we know if Phelps and Lochtes schedules will allow them to be fresh enough, and Feigen is a likely finalist at Trials, and Ervin is older and clearly a 59 specialist at this point.
And for as touted as this next wave is, it’s not in sprint free… they are… Read more »
Well let’s hope that he stays clean and manages to produce something fast this summer. I know that he took a long break off after the Asian Games and spent most of the winter training at altitude in Kunming, pulling 12K sessions a day – pretty hefty base work for a sprinter. He mostly trained through SC Worlds as well, and is hoping to go sub 47.5 this year.
Zetao for me is not a factor yet.. He never did anything on Olympics Worlds.. all his fast times were on a race he could swim a 50 51 on prelims rest a lot then blast time.. and on domestic champs or places with no competition.. he still needs to prove he can play with the big guns and can keep 3 fast rounds..
Hate to rain a little reality on some previous poster’s parades but their prospective AUS 4X100 is not quite as mighty as they would portray. In 2014, they were ranked 4th or 5th in the world behind the likes of FRA, RUS & BRA. Furthermore, Magnussen has certainly NOT looked anywhere near 47sec form so far this year and whilst McEvoy looks the favourite for the AUS title, a 47sec swim is far from a certainty.
Looking relay-wise, both “guns” (Magnussen & McEvoy) have erratic form in relays internationally. Chalmers has ZERO senior intl experience. D’Orsogna is realistically a heat swimmer who’s been promoted to the finals lineup due to the thinning of AUS depth in this event.
I disagree. Magnussen’s 48.4 in the Super Series was the closest he’s looked to executing his most successful race strategy since 2012. There is no point to peaking or swimming 47’s in January. It’s unlikely there will be another swimmer under 48 other than McEvoy, so I’d rather see him swim 23.2/24.7 than 22.8/25.0. From McEvoy’s 200, it doesnt’ look like he’ll be going much faster than 47.8 anyways.
first of all, AUS was ahead on BRA last year in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Also, the Aussies were undefeated last year and were within 2 tenths of Russia and Italy even though they swam in the rain. Comparing Euros and Pan Pacs is apples and oranges. Magnussen will be at least 47.5 at sometime this year, just like he has every year since 2011. And McEvoy will improve his PB in both freestyles as usual.
Sorry, me bad for mixing ITA & BRA. However, trumpeting their “undefeated 2014” does begin to sound a tad hollow when you look at what they were beating. Yes, they beat the USA at Pan Pacs …. but the US depth in this event hasn’t been stellar lately. As for Comm Games, your other medallists would be hard pressed to make finals at Worlds or Olympics. Euros were a far stronger field in the relays than either PP or Comms.
McEvoy and/or Magnussen MAY drop in a mid 47 relay leg but I’m far less certain in the individual race. Magnussen looked OK in Perth, less impressive at NSW Titles and, so far, rather ordinary at Nationals. He WILL have… Read more »
mcEvoy is truly an enigma in relays… he would split 1:48 in 4×200 and then a 47mid in 4×100
Yes, his 4X200 efforts at both CG & PP put his team into significant “deficits”. The competition at CG was such that this no problem but at PP, USA & JAP said “thanks for your generosity” and consigned them to bronze. A repeat in Kazan and it’s say goodnight to your medal hopes.
Back to the 4×100, setting Magnussen & McEvoy aside, they certainly cannot afford any more D’Orsogna 49sec splits (his efforts at both 2014 meets). Chalmers may be anything in the future but, if he makes Kazan as seems likely, he’ll be a national team rookie with considerable responsibility landed on his shoulders should he be handled a finals swim.
I have confidence that all 3 AUS women’s… Read more »
They beat a brazilian relay without Santana and cielo. Brazil lost at least 1 1.5 seconds due to that.
I do expect something big from Santana – really looking forward to seeing how he progresses.
Strange to think as well but last year’s fastest relay split was the 46.91 from Ning at the Asian Games. If China can get its act together, they should be in the mix to final at least.
The Brazil swimmers are just getting older. They do have Santana but we will see if he performs well under pressure. Brazil sometimes has troule getting the effort level up for relays which is always sad to see.
Wow!!!!
Magnussen 47.5
McEvoy 47.6
D’orsogna 48.7
Chalmers 48.8
total: 3:12.6
subtract 1.5 seconds for relay starts and you get a 3:11.1
I wonder if Fraser-Holmes is actually trying to get a spot on this relay, he tied for 6th in the semis.