Kyle Chalmers has put himself in the thick of the action — right next to his biggest challenger for gold — as a historic men’s 100m freestyle final features on what shapes as another huge day for Australia in the pool.
Chalmers, the Rio 2016 champ and Tokyo 2020 runner-up, will chase a third successive individual 100m freestyle medal on Thursday morning (AEST) having looked in stellar form in Paris so far.
The 26-year-old is one of a handful of legitimate Australian gold medal contenders on Day 5, with Mollie O’Callaghan chasing more glory in a women’s 100m freestyle final that also features Shayna Jack, and defending champion Zac Stubblety-Cook among the favourites for the men’s 200m breaststroke final.
Australia collected a fourth gold medal of the meet via Kaylee McKeown on Day 4 as some other big names impressed in semi-final action to suggest the gold rush can continue.
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Chalmers would have to overcome the two fastest men ever — China’s world record holder Pan Zhanle and 200m freestyle champion David Popovici — to triumph in the strongest 100m freestyle field ever assembled.
However it would take a brave man to write him off after he clocked the fastest split of any swimmer in helping Australia to 4x100m freestyle silver on the opening night.
While the threats are everywhere — rising American Jack Alexy and Frenchman Maxime Grousset — are also live chances, Chalmers has crucially boosted his chances by securing a middle lane, ensuring he will be right next to Pan when the whips are cracking.
Chalmers is a born racer and many believed the fact he qualified sixth-fastest for the final in Tokyo, putting him lane 7, may have cost victory against US superstar Caeleb Dressel, who was two lanes away and won by just 0.06 seconds from the Australian.
“He goes in second (spot) into the final tomorrow, which is exactly where he wants to be,” Australian two-time 100m freestyle world champion James Magnussen said of Chalmers on the Matty & The Missile podcast.
“In Tokyo, he made the slip-up of going too easy in the semi-final, ended up in an outside lane, and then couldn’t see Caeleb Dressel in that final, which eventually cost him the gold medal. He couldn’t see him on the second lap. He did everything he could from the outside lane, but just got touched out.
“Tomorrow night, he’s going to be in the thick of it.”
Chalmers clocked 47.58 seconds in the semi-finals while Pan touched in a scintillating 47.21 to make amends for a shocking heat swim which almost saw him miss the semis. Chalmers’ PB of 47.08 would certainly put him in the mix for gold but both Pan and Popovici have swum sub 47-second times, taking turns at improving Cesar Cielo’s 46.91 world record time that stood from 2009 until 2022.
“I feel like I’m in as good a shape as I could possibly be in for an Olympic Games, definitely better than what I was in Tokyo,” Chalmers said.
“Every race I enter I back myself. I think I’ve got to have the confidence, and belief in myself that I can.”
Before Chalmers enters the water O’Callaghan will chase more gold in the opening event of the night, the women’s 100m freestyle.
The 20-year-old upstaged Ariane Titmus in the 200m final and is chasing a third gold of this meet and a fifth of her career – a feat managed only by Emma McKeon (six) and Ian Thorpe (five).
She faces stiff competition from Hong Kong’s in-form Siobhan Haughey, Swedish legend Sarah Sjostrom and Jack, who has made an impressive comeback from a doping ban that kept her out of the sport for two years.
Magnussen is backing O’Callaghan to salute again as he marvels at the battle for all-time greatness unfolding in a golden generation for Australia’s female swimmers.
“She did it in the 200m so pressure’s off for her. She’s got her individual gold. She’s already endeared herself to the Australian public. But I believe she’ll double it up,” Magnussen said.
“The 100-200 freestyle is a much-coveted double. We haven’t seen it done since way back to Pieter van den Hoogenband in Sydney 2000.
“If Mollie can get that double, she’s got more relays to come.
“It’s essentially at the moment, we’ve got Ariarne racing Mollie racing Kaylee to become the greatest (Aussie) Olympian in history.
“What an insane scenario. All at the same time at the same Olympics.”
Stubblety-Cook, meanwhile, survived a huge scare in the heats — coming from last to first with an incredible finish — but had a much more straight-fowarded semi-final as he qualified second fastest behind hometown hero Leon Marchland who is the slight favourite for the final.
HEATS WRAP
Australians Jenna Strauch and Ella Ramsay have qualified the women’s 200m breaststroke semi-finals, recording times of 2:24.38 and 2:25.61 respectively in the heats.
Strauch placed second in her race, while Ramsay finished fifth in the following heat. South Africa’s Tatjana Smith posted the fastest time with 2:21.57.
In the women’s 200m butterfly event, Dolphins stars Abbey Lee Connor and Elizabeth Dekkers qualified for the semi-finals after posting 2:07.13 and 2:08.97 respectively in the heats.
Connor came second in her heat, only finishing behind China’s Yufeir Zhang, who notched the fastest time of the heats with 2:06.55.
“That was definitely part of my approach, knowing that I just had to get through to the semis so I just really wanted to conserve energy,” Dekkers said.
“I really didn’t want to push it too hard. Just get a lane.
“It’s definitely been nerve wracking, but I actually think it’s been great to watch everyone do so amazing and I’m just so excited to sort of be a part of it.
“As a group we definitely feed off each other so we’re only going to get better as the week goes on.”
Elsewhere, Australians See-Bom Lee and Bradley Woodward failed to qualify for the men’s 200m backstroke semi-finals after posting times of 1:58.30 and 2:00.50 during the heats.
DAY 5 SWIMMING SCHEDULE AND AUSSIES IN ACTION (ALL TIMES AEST)
4.30am Women’s 100m freestyle final (Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack)
4.37am Men’s 200m butterfly final
4.45am Women’s 200m butterfly semi-finals
5.13am Women’s 1500m freestyle final (Moesha Johnson)
5.47am Men’s 200m backstroke semi-finals
6.03am Women’s 200m breaststroke semi-finals
6.31am Men’s 200m breaststroke final (Zac Stubblety-Cook, Josh Yong)
6.39am Men’s 100m freestyle final (Kyle Chalmers)
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