We know Australian Kyle Chalmers is one of the fastest swimmers in the world – and one who has had plenty of success in the 25m pool over the years in Berlin during the FINA Swimming World Cup.
And for good reason: The four-time Olympic medallist and Rio 2016 titleist over the 100m freestyle also set the short course world record over this same distance with an incredible 44.84 seconds in the FINA Swimming World Cup final last year – besting a 13-year-old record that came from the time of high-tech wonder suits.
Now, coming into the 2022 short course season, Chalmers sat down with the DSV before the Berlin event to talk goals for everything from Berlin to the upcoming world champs in Melbourne to tattoos and his love for studying German.
Kyle, what are your goals for the FINA Swimming World Cup this year?
Having fun competing against some of the best swimmers in the world and honing my racing skills ahead of the World Short Course Championships.
But you often have to sit on the plane before the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) at home in Melbourne (13 – 18 December). Are you not afraid of such hardships?
I love to travel to other countries and swim races there. I'm used to it and it's part of the job, so I honestly don't think too much about such side effects. In any case, I will be happy to participate in all three stations of the World Cup, so after Berlin also in Canada and the USA.
How important are the World Championships in Melbourne for you and your compatriots? Swimming traditionally enjoys the greatest attention in Australia.
The World Cup is very important. It will be great to swim in front of a home crowd for the first time in a long time. I know that everyone is very excited about this opportunity.
Last year, a few weeks after the World Cup race in the SSE, you were suddenly seen again in Berlin at a Hertha game in the Olympic Stadium. How did that come about?
I love Germany and I love Berlin. I now have some close friends in Berlin who offered to take me to a game, so I jumped at the opportunity and took the next flight so I could be there. I also wanted to learn more about the history of Berlin, so I took a great historical tour with a personal guide and learned as much as I could.
And how come you have been wearing a German-language tattoo on your chest since last winter? It now says: "Only the strong survive."
I learned German at school and studied German after school. That's why it's special for me to have a tattoo in German because it was my favourite subject at school and I was very interested in it.
Courtesy: German Swimming Federation