Kyle Chalmers has been dethroned as the Commonwealth Games 100m freestyle king in Glasgow after being reeled in by young friend and rival Flynn Southam in a landmark changing-of-the-guard moment.
With a potential record-breaking 10th Commonwealth gold in his sights, Chalmers had his proud run of never being beaten by an Australian in major international competition dismantled by 21-year-old Southam in the Tollcross pool.
Southam’s glory, fuelled by indignation at being dismissed as just a relay workhorse, set the tone for yet another magisterial five-gold night for the Dolphins as they equalled their record tally of titles at any Games with 28 – with still one more day left to blitz the Gold Coast tally.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Southam said. “I had a lot of people doubting me and saying my success only comes from relays, and that’s really pissed me off and motivated me to be the best in the world.”
Jenna Forrester sealed a golden treble in her remarkable breakthrough meet, adding a 200m medley win to her surprise 200m backstroke and 400m IM titles, while 400m and 1500m queen Lani Pallister completed her freestyle distance hat-trick with the 800m title in a Games record 8 minutes 11.12 seconds.
The session was book-ended by Queenslander Kirralee Hayes opening up with a para 50m freestyle S13 final win, with teammate Jenna Jones taking bronze, and the quartet of Iona Anderson, Sam Williamson, Matt Temple and Meg Harris ending with mixed 4×100 medley relay gold.
But Southam was the standout, the young Fremantle-born, NSW-raised prospect finally fulfilling his potential as the most likely successor to Chalmers, clocking a searing 47.13 seconds to the bronze medallist’s 47.74. The pair were split by Welshman Matt Richards (47.64).
And while the gracious Chalmers was left pondering if he’d go on to the Los Angeles Games, Southam made it clear he was the future, even if he hopes their rivalry flourishes.
“It’s my time to shine, and I know that,” said Southam. “I’ve been due for this, and this is my breakout meet. Four years ago, I came here as a little boy – but now I’m a man, and I belong here.
“Kyle’s had a pretty tough year, it’s the first year of being a dad, I know that’s pretty impressive that he’s even here competing. But I want to see Kyle back at his biggest and his baddest and his bestest – I’d love to see that rivalry continue!”
Chalmers, cheered on by his wife, Norwegian international swimmer Ingeborg Loyning with baby daughter Astrid, couldn’t land the 10th gold and 12th medal that would have taken him past the great Ian Thorpe as Australia’s most successful men’s swimmer ever at the Games.
The 28-year-old still has a chance, though, in the 50m butterfly final, for which he’s qualified fastest, on the final day of competition. It shapes as his farewell to the Games.
Admitting he knew the passing-of-the-baton moment was coming, Chalmers, the first to congratulate the young gun, shrugged: “I’m completely fine with it. In the medal presentation, I really said, ‘you know, this is your moment. I’m so proud of you, enjoy your moment, enjoy singing the anthem’. I truly am so proud of him.
“I would love to get to that point [in 2028], but I’m also a realist and know that what is important to me now is my wife and daughter. And I really feel that I’ve won in life by having them, that if I don’t get to that point, I’m not going to be disappointed.
“I have to be a realist at this point in my career, too. I’m not an 18-year-old kid that’s coming on, that’s got no other things going on in life.
“I don’t want to be a selfish parent. I want to be there for her and work out what is the best possible thing. And I don’t mean that in any other way. I desperately want to be in LA, but you have to work that out being a parent.”
Away from the pool, gymnasts Breanna Scott and Jesse Moore added to Australia’s gold medal bonanza, taking out individual apparatus titles in Glasgow.
Just minutes after Scott nailed a flashy balance beam routine to take out the title on her speciality apparatus, Moore hit every mark on parallel bars to win another gold for Australia at Glasgow International Arena. Scott scored 13.933 points for her routine, beating Singapore’s Amanda Yap (13.233) and Lia-Monica Fontaine (13.00) of Canada.
Scott finishes her campaign in Glasgow by winning her second gold medal of the Games, having earlier contributed to Australia’s dominant team all-around victory. It is Scott’s first individual gold medal, having also claimed silver in the women’s individual all-around.
“[Balance beam] is definitely my favourite when it’s going well,” Scott said. “It’s kind of crazy, to be honest. It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet. The last three days have just been absolutely wild. The team gold was such a special medal for all of us, and that was really the main goal coming into this. All of us in finals, now getting these extra little medals is just topping it off.”
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