Kyle Chalmers, the Australian swimmer known as 'King Kyle', is once again positioning himself as the underdog at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, despite a glittering career that includes seven Commonwealth Games gold medals, six world titles, and eight Olympic medals.
On Sunday, Chalmers anchored Australia's 4x100m freestyle relay team to an unexpected gold, overtaking the Americans with a 46.53 split. He described the win as 'a huge upset', adding: 'Every year you read the articles and people write us off. We have a point to prove and swim with a chip on our shoulder.'
Chalmers first shot to prominence at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he won the 100m freestyle gold as an 18-year-old, becoming the youngest male swimmer to win an individual Olympic gold since Ian Thorpe in 2000. Since then, he has battled numerous injuries, including a degenerative spine, shoulder problems, and heart surgery, which have fuelled his underdog mentality.
On Thursday, Chalmers will contest the 100m freestyle final, facing rising stars such as Romania's David Popovici and China's Pan Zhanle, who beat him at the Paris Olympics. Chalmers won gold in this event at the last major world championships in 2023.
