For journalists covering swimming at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the journey from the press area in the stands to the mixed zone – where athletes speak to reporters after their race – was quite the trek.
If you didn’t get your skates on through the labyrinth of stairs, corridors and intersecting rooms, the athletes could be out of the water and out of sight by the time you bounded into view.
It was a trip I made dozens of times during the Olympics. During one heat session, I descended through the stadium with a brisk stride, hoping to quiz one of the Australian athletes before their semi-final or final the next morning.
As it turned out, the clock had beaten me. They were in, out and already in the warm-down pool. Instead, I heard a voice asking where I’d been and why I was late. There was Kyle Chalmers, still huffing and puffing from a 100m freestyle heat, ready to converse about his road to the final.
It came as a surprise, mostly because Chalmers could often be elusive during the preliminary rounds of a meeting. I had covered him since he was 17, an Adelaide schoolboy who won Olympic gold in Rio in 2016, and became convinced he was semi-superstitious about interviews on the way to a final.
But there he was; open, effusive, engaging, a blend of swagger and humour, and clearly in a good space. I knew then he would bring some serious heat in the final, which he did, taking silver in what became a classic match race with American champion Caeleb Dressel.
Mixed 100m freestyle relay gold medallists, Emma McKeon, Mollie O’Callaghan, Kyle Chalmers and William Yang.Credit:Getty
It should have been an occasion to celebrate, another elite milestone for one of the finest swimmers Australia has produced. For whatever reason, that race seemed to represent a fork in the road for the powerhouse sprinter.
Just over a year later, he has been headline news at the Commonwealth Games, struggling with his mental health and ready to walk away from the sport amid a series of tabloid stories about purported rifts in the team. For all the suggestions he covets attention, anyone who has spent time with him recently knows his struggles are real and concerning.
The first thing Chalmers needs to know is: that’s completely fine. And in swimming, sadly, almost a new normality. His great rival and friend Dressel has been open with his mental health concerns, speaking of them before Tokyo and then withdrawing just days into the recent FINA World Championships.
The Olympics were a watershed for athletes dealing with crushing pressure and expectation. Simone Biles, one of the faces of the American Games team, withdrew from competition to focus on her mental health. Swimming’s winning machine, Katie Ledecky, showed rare glimpses of emotion as the toll she carried became clear.
Chalmers need look no further than the face on the other side of the Channel Seven microphone for a reminder of how swimming can grind down even the brightest of souls. Cate Campbell, poolside for the broadcaster in Birmingham, revealed her own depression battle late last year after she was diagnosed four weeks before the Tokyo Games.
The whole scenario raises questions about the treatment of athletes, especially those who float in and out of the spotlight and don’t have the support scaffolding in place like those in the protective bubble of a wealthy football or cricket team.
Professionals must have a degree of resilience in terms of weathering the occasional media storm or robust line of questioning. But it wasn’t only Chalmers who felt the line had been crossed when he spent his entire post-race interview talking not about a gold medal or a Games record but allegations of petulance and division.
It may be hard for him to see through the present mist but his lowest moment also presents a golden opportunity. Having been bold enough to call out what he felt was inappropriate and inaccurate coverage, Chalmers now has the chance to step back, reconnect with the important people in his life and ponder what he wants out of the sport, if anything, and how to engage with those within its wider ecosystem.
What is apparent is that he could do with a fresh set of eyes when it comes to taking back control of his own narrative, because it’s a good one, potentially with a great legacy, and worth telling. If that means picking his battles more carefully and having some more discipline around his prolific social media output, he needs to be open to those conversations.
But first, he shouldn’t fear stepping back and if needed, checking out completely for an extended time. Travel the world, learn the drums, feed the snakes … all worthy adventures if they lead to him finding his self-worth and purpose beyond a set of Speedos.
Once he does, as so many have done before, he will return to the pool with a renewed vigour, drive and love for the water. What he comes to define as success, as a person and an athlete, will go a long way to determining what sort of man will emerge from the other side.
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