A fierce competition is on the cards for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest as the men’s 100 freestyle roster looks to topple Kyle Chalmers’ World Record from 2021.
Kyle Chalmers’ World Record for the men’s 100-metre freestyle in the 25m pool has now stood for nearly three years, while he remains dominant at the event. At just 23 years old, Chalmers achieved a career-defining moment when he shattered the long-standing record at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup stop in Kazan in 2021, touching the timing pad in a remarkable 44.84 seconds. This exceptional swim unseated Amaury Leveaux of France’s previous World Record, which had remained untouched for almost 13 years.
Since then, Chalmers has consolidated his place as one of the world’s greatest sprint freestylers and has dominated at short course, notably setting a championship record in 2022 in Melbourne (close by Australian standards to his native Adelaide) at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) to stand as reigning champion at the event. He has been a regular winner for the 100m at Swimming World Cups.
The talented Chalmers has not been short of long course success either, with gold medals from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to the World Aquatics Championships - Fukuoka 2023. Further additions to his tally include a silver in the 100m freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. And in Paris this year, he followed up with three more: silvers in both the men’s 100m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay, as well as a bronze in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
As we look to the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Budapest this December, will Chalmers’ record be challenged? With athletes like Pan Zhanle, Thomas Ceccon and Pieter Coetze in great form, it is set to be a thrilling competition for fans around the world!