Swim king Kyle Chalmers opens up on devastating mental health toll of love triangle controversy as he prepares to become a first-time father
Australian swimming champion Kyle Chalmers has opened up about some of the mental health challenges he faced during the 'love triangle' drama.
Chalmers, 27, went through a rollercoaster of emotions at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as claims of a 'love triangle' emerged between himself, ex-girlfriend Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson.
The ordeal tested him emotionally and led to Chalmers seriously considering quitting the sport he loves.
'It definitely impacted my mental health and wellbeing, and it kind of made me be like, "Do I actually want to put myself through this," and, "This is not what I signed up for to be a swimmer",' Chalmers told Body+Soul.
'I love swimming. I love representing my country at the highest level. But I don't want to talk about my personal life and then have that criticised in front of the world.
'As a young person in sport, you get into it for the love of sport; you don't ever think you're going to have to deal with these things.'
Chalmers, who has previously said he was considering giving everything up to play country footy, revealed Aussie athletes of all stripes reached out to him.
'I received a lot of love from amazing athletes around Australia, and the world,' he said.
'Sam Kerr and Patrick Dangerfield reaching out to me was crazy, and Michael Clarke also, someone I grew up idolising.
'There were a lot of athletes in my corner supporting how I was feeling.'
Chalmers is now engaged to Norwegian swimmer fiancée Ingeborg Løyning and expecting his first child.
He says his life has already changed in many ways.
'You're quite selfish as an athlete, because you've always got to put yourself first,' he said.
'It's always prioritising your sleep and your recovery, and what you're eating and your plan for the day, to get the best out of yourself in the pool.
'Whereas now, it's already no longer about me. I'm prioritising my fiancee, how she's feeling in the pregnancy and doing what I can to support her through this period.
'And then eventually, it's going to be prioritising the baby, and the athlete will come second.'
After his swimming career is over, he plans to complete his trade qualifications and return to his childhood home of Port Lincoln.
He and Ingeborg are also excited about the Chalmers Swim Academy they have started, which will also offer mental health support alongside first-class virtual coaching.
'I don't want the next generation of swimmers to have to go through what I've gone through with the media,' he said.
'I want them to feel comfortable, rather than feeling criticised and fearing what the media could say or do.'
Chalmers is still passionate about swimming and will surely be lighting up the pool again soon.
'Brisbane 2032 could be an option if I'm still loving it and enjoying my sport,' he said.
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Telegraph
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- Telegraph
Ranked: The 30 greatest fast bowlers in Test history
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Wes Hall 48 Tests, 192 wickets at 26, and 54 balls per wicket Similar in height, method and leap at the crease to Jack Gregory, he was the first fast bowler to reign in Asia: in the West Indies' 1958-59 series in India he took 30 wickets at 17 each, and 16 at 17 each in Pakistan, figures that have yet to be surpassed by any fast bowler touring Asia. His name was then writ large in the imagination of Australia, where he bowled the final over of the tied Test, and in England in 1963, where he bowled a spell of three-and-a-half hours in the Lord's Test. 27. Joel Garner 58 Tests, 259 wickets at 20, and 51 balls per wicket Using his experiences of one-day competitions at Somerset, Garner became the foremost bowler in limited-overs cricket – as when winning the 1979 World Cup for West Indies – and revived the yorker's popularity, the delivery having fallen out of fashion (it is so-called because Yorkshire bowlers of the 19th century used it). In one-day internationals he conceded only 3.09 runs per over. In Tests too he was always economical, with old ball and new. Whatever he bowled, the threat was accentuated by his 6ft 8in height – and when Garner kicked up his knees, the batsman realised he was facing an unprecedented form of danger. 26. Mitchell Starc 97 Tests, 387 wickets at 27, and 48 balls per wicket While Trent Boult took 600 wickets in all formats for New Zealand, Starc went one better. When pitching the new ball on a full length he has been driven for runs but has also swung it to devastating effect (as Rory Burns's leg stump can vouch). Only Wasim Akram, of left-arm pace bowlers, has taken more Test wickets with 414, and Starc could overtake him during the next Ashes. The variety he offers has been a key component in Australia winning medals in all formats over the past decade. 25. Courtney Walsh 132 Tests, 519 wickets at 24, and 58 balls per wicket Never mind the best Test match figures of any bowler when captain – 13 wickets for 55 against New Zealand – his immense stamina enabled him to bowl more than 30,000 balls in Tests alone, and eventually to reach the top of the pile with 519 wickets. Having bowled heaps for Gloucestershire too, he could vary his length more than his contemporary Curtly Ambrose. Spare a thought too for Walsh and the late David Lawrence being perhaps the quickest pair of opening bowlers that county cricket has seen, alongside Sussex's Garth Le Roux and Imran Khan when in the mood. 24. Andy Roberts 47 Tests, 202 wickets at 26, and 55 balls per wicket He was probably as fast as anyone there has ever been in his first couple of years of Test and county cricket (when he hit Colin Cowdrey on the head while taking 111 wickets at 13 each for Hampshire in 1974). And he took 32 wickets at 18 each in the West Indies series in India that winter. Then he evolved into a wise technician who schooled the great West Indian cohort of fast bowlers, teaching them how to build stamina without any academies by running on the beach, use cross-seam to bowl bouncers and – the hardest of all bowling tricks – to flick the shiny side over in the delivery stride to deceive the batsman. 23. Fred Trueman 67 Tests, 307 wickets at 22, and 49 balls per wicket He has to be given a bonus point for the most handsome bowling action of anyone in this list: it was a perfect marriage of power, speed and aesthetic grace in his delivery stride (bowlers do not bowl side-on any more to reduce injury). He set a world record by reaching 307 Test wickets but how many more would he have taken had he had been selected for more than four tours? He was often deemed unselectable for non-cricket reasons, but that did help feed into his personality as 'Fiery Fred'. From a tearaway he evolved into a fast-medium outswing bowler who could bowl cutters. 22. Sir James Anderson 188 Tests, 704 wickets at 26, and 57 balls per wicket He does not rate highly for strike rate (almost nine-and-a-half overs to take a wicket) but he comes top for longevity – more than 40,000 balls spanning a Test career of 21 years – and arguably for craftsmanship too: he could do everything with the seam of a cricket ball, and accurately too. Always effective in England with a Dukes ball, he also found a way for England to win their series of 2010-11 in Australia and 2012-13 in India. 21. Kagiso Rabada 71 Tests, 336 wickets at 22, and 39 balls per wicket The South African has the best strike rate of any pace bowler who has taken more than 100 wickets in Tests, largely by pitching the new ball up on the line of the stumps. Anyone can start an outswinger on or outside off stump, precious few on leg and middle. Mean bouncer too. 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Glenn McGrath 104 Tests, 414 wickets at 23, and 54 runs per wicket Unlike Curtly Ambrose he could very occasionally be rattled and hit off his length, but otherwise he did what he did immaculately, by bowling on or just outside off stump and usually with some steepling bounce. He made Shane Warne's life a lot simpler by knocking over top orders. Throw in ODIs and he took almost a thousand international wickets… but what if an opening batsman had gone after him a la Ben Duckett? 4. Imran Khan 88 Tests, 362 wickets at 23, and 54 balls per wicket Not being content with mere inswing at Oxford, he acquired the conventional skills in county cricket then added reverse-swing as taught by Sarfraz Nawaz, so that he conquered inside and outside Asia. He was the first great bowler to bowl reverse swing not by soaking one side of the ball with sweat but by roughing up the leather on one side to make it lighter – before umpires began to inspect. In Pakistan he took 163 wickets at 19. 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