By Phil Lutton
Kyle Chalmers, the freestyle great who won 100m gold in Rio and silver in Tokyo, has given an unflinching insight into the physical toll exacted by elite swimming, saying he is prepared for a life where he can’t lift his arms above his head due to his burned-out shoulders.
On the eve of the Australian championships in Adelaide, where the team for the FINA World Championships and Commonwealth Games will be selected, Chalmers detailed the chronic pain he has endured over the past two-and-a-half years as he underwent two shoulder surgeries and a relentless list of rehab, cortisone injections and daily anti-inflammatories.
Kyle Chalmers won a surprise silver in the 100m freestyle in Tokyo.Credit: Getty
That he was just 0.06s short of American superstar Caeleb Dressel in Tokyo seems even more remarkable given the struggles he has undergone in daily life, where simply driving a car or drinking a coffee has elicited grimaces of pain, let along thundering down a pool at near-record pace.
Yet it’s a toll the 23-year-old says must be paid if he is to retain his place as one of the world’s premier sprinters and forge a path to the Paris Olympic Games of 2024, where he could sign off on a brilliant career that saw him win Rio gold at just 17.
“The last two-and-a-half years have been frustrating dealing with shoulder injuries day-in, day-out. It’s the stuff away from the pool that affects me; I can’t sleep on my shoulders, driving, drinking coffee, everything, lifting my shoulders above my head,” Chalmers said.
“If it was just the two or four hours a day I was in the pool it would be fine. But you just can’t get away from them. I’m turning 24 next month but I feel like I’m 40 most days.
“I think I will push through to Paris and see where the mind and the body are at. I think when I’m done with swimming I won’t be able to lift my shoulders above my head. But I’ll do what I can and take it from there.”
Chalmers said he has genuine fears of what his body will be like when he eventually transitions into normal life after being a sporting prodigy that faced a choice between swimming and AFL. He has been on junior national teams since 2012 and senior squads since 2015.
“It is (scary), big time. To get to Tokyo, I did everything I could to get in the pool and race... surgeries, cortisone. Anti-inflammatories every day. But what is the impact on the rest of my life?
“A few of my friends are finishing physio degrees and tell me the surgeries I’ve had are taking the goodness out of my shoulders and I’ll be pretty arthritic and not able to do too many things.
Kyle Chalmers says his shoulders give him constant pain.Credit: AP
“It is a scary thought. It’s a concern. But you have to do it to be at the top, unfortunately. I’ve done it for so many years, so this year is about being a bit more relaxed and doing it on my terms.”
As it stands, Chalmers’ shoulders are in reasonable state. He recently enjoyed six weeks out of the pool without so much as a massage, buying him some precious time. And his return to racing will look very different; he’s traded in freestyle in Adelaide for the 50m-100m butterfly double.
He will drop the 200m freestyle from his repertoire altogether and aim to do the 100m freestyle and 100m fly double in Paris. A stroke he loved as a junior, Chalmers said he needed a new challenge to stay fresh and motivated.
And he remains deadly serious about being a world-class butterfly swimmer. Chalmers swims to win and wouldn’t head down this path unless he saw himself as a major player in the field.
“I grew up with butterfly. And now I can do some butterfly again (with my shoulders) it’s making training a lot more enjoyable and, to be honest, the thing that got me back in the pool.
“We have quite a lot of shit days in the pool, doing freestyle every day of the week. It’s nice being able to switch over. I’m probably not going to produce anything amazing this week but by Comm Games, if I can get my hand on the wall in the top three, I think I’ll be ok. And by Paris I’ll be able to have a good crack.”
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