Podcast Podcast, Season 4, Episode 8: Kyle Chalmers

Welcome to Season 4 of The Edge, a podcast by TAG Heuer. Our eighth guest this season is the Australian swimming sensation Kyle Chalmers. In this episode, he relives the moment that he sees the gold medal in the 200m freestyle at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He also talks about the moments that shaped him, his ability to overcome adversity and how he embraces high pressure moments. Presented by your host Naomi Schiff, this is The Edge, a podcast by TAG Heuer. 

Here are a few snippets to put you on the starting line and get the adrenaline pumping. But don’t forget to subscribe to our Podcast so you can listen to the full, unfiltered episode later. The Edge is a series of conversations with extraordinary people operating at the edge of possibility. It’s about the thin line between taking part and tipping into victory; it’s about what gives us our edge and what we can do to go beyond it.

I was lucky enough to have a swimming pool in my backyard. As a nine year old, I was one of very few kids that could swim 50m comfortably in my country town, so then I got selected to represent Port Lincoln in Adelaide. I started representing Australia on junior teams that I started taking swimming a little bit more seriously, and then started making it onto the senior team and started to get some sponsors and started getting some money with swimming that I started to take it a lot more seriously. It was never a sport that I’d dreamed of doing. I didn’t know very much about swimming at all. I never followed it. I just kind of got involved in it and then happened to be good at it. So I stuck at it and absolutely loved it. I love being a swimmer and have had quite a lot of success doing it.

I’m very self-motivated and want to be the very best I can possibly be and that’s probably what still keeps me hungry and motivated after being on the Australian team for over ten years now. I think that it affects my lifestyle outside of the pole in a way, because I have to sacrifice everything I possibly can to have the success I want to. So you miss out on important family events, like birthdays. Normally I’m overseas so I don’t get to celebrate with friends and family or most of my weekends revolve around sitting on the couch, preparing for the next week of training and doing some form of recovery. As I’ve gotten older, it’s been even more so that I’ve got to prioritize sleep and recovery more than what I might have done eight years ago. But I think the success and what I’ve been able to achieve and the experiences I’ve been able to have, makes it all worthwhile for sure.

The first thing is to look at the board and say, see where you finished at what time you swam. Once that kind of sinks in, obviously it’s a huge amount of pride. Like it’s why you work so hard for and a feeling that I worked so hard for day in, day out is to have that exact feeling. It’s probably very hard to put into words like it’s undescribable unless you’ve really lived that moment. To know what that feeling is like to win a race on an international stage and be named the best player in the world. The next thing is looking to the crowd to try and share that moment with your family and loved ones who are there supporting and watching you and have been there on that journey the whole entire way. And the most rewarding thing is when you stand on the podium with the national anthem and receive your medal and feel that it motivates me every single day. I’ve been very fortunate. I’m super motivated to continue to do that.

The Commonwealth Games is coming around again soon, will be in 2026 and back in Glasgow in Scotland. So that’s my big focus now is defending the titles that I currently own in the Commonwealth Games events. I think just pride by being able to hear your national anthem be played, hear the crowd singing along to the national anthem and knowing that you’re number one, with your gold medal around your neck. You’re just so proud. And I guess a little bit emotional too, because it’s a time where you reflect on all the hard work and sacrifice you’ve made to that point. Then you have to get back in a warm up and then do it all again on that same night. Like prepare yourself for the next race. It’s not until the weeks or months or even sometimes years after that, you actually are able to reflect fully on what you’ve just achieved. And actually, give yourself the time to enjoy, to be proud of it and realize what you have just achieved.