Australian swimming star Kyle Chalmers has secured his spot at this year's Commonwealth Games, but the Olympic gold medallist admits he is still searching for the perfect race after a decade of trying.
Chalmers wins 100m freestyle at trials
At the Australian swimming trials held at Sydney Olympic Park on Thursday night, Chalmers touched the wall in 47.59 seconds to claim the men's 100m freestyle. After qualifying fifth, he held off a strong challenge from Finn Southam, who finished second with a time 0.3 seconds slower. Kai Taylor was third in 48.21 seconds.
The 27-year-old had earlier set a personal best in the 100m butterfly (51.04 seconds) but withdrew from the final. Inspired by Cameron McEvoy's newly set 50m freestyle world record at age 32, Chalmers believes he can still improve.
Chalmers: 'I haven't put it together yet'
Chalmers will also compete in the 50m butterfly on Saturday. He said, 'The day that I no longer believe I'm capable of swimming a personal best time is the day that I probably step away from the sport. I still haven't been able to put it together yet. Tonight I broke out on the wrong hand, which meant that I was really long into the turn. It's those small things that add up to slow you down when it comes down to a fraction or milliseconds.'
He added, 'That's what excites me, is that I haven't been able to put the perfect 100 together in one race. I've done parts of it in different races, but never done it all at once — 10 years is a very long time.'
Fatherhood fuels Chalmers
Chalmers credited the birth of his first child, daughter Astrid, last year for helping him raise his game. 'I've never been happier in life — a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer,' he said.
McKeown completes backstroke treble
Earlier on Thursday, Kaylee McKeown won the 200m backstroke in 2 minutes 3.98 seconds, completing the backstroke trifecta after victories in the 50m and 100m events earlier in the week. Despite battling illness, the five-time Olympic gold medallist admitted she 'died in the back end' of the race.
'When you think back to when you're younger, you jump up a tree and then jump out of the tree and not necessarily think about breaking your arm. The older you get, the more you think about that and it's the same with swimming. For me, I just think about the pain of this event. I don't necessarily think about the race itself any more. It's like dreading the pain,' McKeown said. 'I knew it was going to be challenging with the week that I've had so far, so I just said to myself, 'go out'.'
Other winners on the night
Lani Pallister claimed the women's 800m freestyle in 8 minutes 13.41 seconds. William Petric won the men's 200m medley, and Elizabeth Dekkers triumphed in the women's 200m butterfly.
Among para swimmers, three-time Paralympic gold medallist Lakeisha Patterson won the women's 400m freestyle multi-class final. Other winners included Callum Simpson (men's 400m freestyle), Steph Bruzzese (women's 100m breaststroke), and Jake Michel (men's 100m breaststroke).
