2017 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Sunday, April 9th – Thursday, April 13th
- Brisbane Aquatic Centre
- Prelims at 11am local/Finals at 7:30pm local
- LCM
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The 2016 Olympic champion in the men’s 100m freestyle, Kyle Chalmers, indeed got wet today in Brisbane, but only in relay form, bypassing the individual 50m freestyle event this meet. However, as a member of his Marion Swimming Club’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Chalmers threw down the fastest split of the entire field, collecting an anchor of 48.22 to set the stage for his first event tomorrow, the 200m freestyle.
In the interview below provided by Swimming Australia, Chalmers recounts his past few months, which includes several training breaks through Christmas, until he returned to the pool consistently after the holiday. After South Australian States in January, Chalmers attempted to race at the NSW Championships in March, but wound up pulling out after coming down with a respiratory infection. As such, this meet in Brisbane is Chalmers’ chance to shine once again, aiming for Budapest qualification in both the 100m and 200m freestyles, the latter of which kicks off on day 2.
However, in both races, he’ll battle one of his closest friends and the fastest 100m freestyler ever in a textile suit, Cameron McEvoy. Although McEvoy faded off the podium in Rio, Chalmers still considers the Bond swimmer the man to beat and says “it’s a privilege” to race the physics student whenever they share the pool.