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Australian swimming king Kyle Chalmers has sensationally revealed he may have quit swimming and joined the Geelong Cats.
Chalmers, 26, was a promising youth soccer player in South Australia, but never really considered a career pursuing Sherrin.
Until 2020.
With the Tokyo Olympics postponed due to the Covid pandemic, Chalmers was battling a shoulder injury.
Then he was told out of the blue that Geelong was keen to chat.
“A friend of mine, Scotty Darlow, talked to me and said, '[Former Cats Talent ID manager] “Troy Selwood really wants to talk to you about going to Geelong,” three-time Olympian Chalmers told the Howie Games Podcast.
'And I thought, this has to be a joke. But I'll sit down and do it, whatever, I'll do the Teleobjetivo call.
“And I went on Teleobjetivo and did this two-hour recruitment to go to Geelong as a Category B rookie, and if I was going to do that it had to be after the Olympics in 2021, otherwise I'd be too old.”
Australian swimming king Kyle Chalmers has sensationally revealed he may have quit swimming and joined the Geelong Cats.
Chalmers (pictured with his fiancee Ingeborg Loyning) was a promising junior soccer player in South Australia, but never considered a career pursuing Sherrin until a Teleobjetivo call in 2020.
Three-time Olympian Chalmers now admits playing AFL football was probably unlikely
A young Kyle Chalmers after winning the men's 100m freestyle ultimate at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Chalmers, whose father Brett played in the AFL for Adelaide and Port Adelaide, at the time seriously considered ditching his glasses and swimming cap.
Until his close teammate Sam Jacobs, on the Crows' books at the time, highlighted that it was unlikely Chalmers would ever play senior football.
'Sauce' (Jacobs) actually put it to me and said, 'Well, do you really want to go from being No. 1 or No. 2 in the world in your sport to being No. 45 on an AFL list and probably never? play? A game?
“I said, 'Yes, that's actually a very good point, you're right.'”
“So that's when the dream, the bubble, just burst, and I said, 'You know what? I actually love swimming, I love being one of the best swimmers in the world.'
“I love my lifestyle, I love the opportunities that traveling the world has given me, so fill it with football.”
Selwood admitted it was a bold move and is convinced Chalmers made the right decision.
Chalmers, 26, is also not ruling out an appearance at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
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