Seventeen-year-old David Popovici of Romania became the youngest swimmer to break the world swimming record in the men’s 100-meter freestyle on Saturday, beating the mark set more than 13 years ago in the same pool.
Popovici touched in 46.86 seconds at the European championships to top the time of 46.91 set by Brazil’s César Cielo at the 2009 world championships, which also were held at Rome’s historic Foro Italico.
Cielo established his record on July 30, 2009, at the last major international meet to allow rubberised suits. It stood longer than any record in the event’s history, going back to 1905.
Now, it belongs to one of the sport’s budding stars.
“There was no rush and I had to be extremely patient about the world record,” Popovici said.
“It has hurt but it’s always worth it and I feel fine right now. It felt great and it’s very special to break this record which was set here in 2009 by César Cielo.”
When Brazil’s César Cielo set the existing men’s 100m freestyle world record in 2009, ‘super suits’ were still legal.(Getty Images: Clive Rose)
Cielo still holds the record in the 50 free, which is among eight men’s long-course standards that remain from the rubber-suit era. Five of those were set at those supercharged 2009 worlds.
Popovici went out in 22.74 and set the record by going 24.12 on the return lap to easily beat Hungarian butterfly specialist Kristóf Milák by 0.61. Italy’s Alessandro Miressi claimed the bronze in 47.63.
“This was a brilliant race, a joy to swim next to David,” Milák said.
“David is a fantastic swimmer, I think the same crazy genius of the freestyle that I am in the butterfly. It’s great that his name will hit the headlines for long, long years.”
Romania’s David Popovici swam the fastest 100m freestyle in history, stopping the clock in 46.86 seconds.(AP: Andrew Medichini)
Popovici’s emergence sets up a potentially huge showdown at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where American star Caeleb Dressel — winner of five gold medals at last summer’s Tokyo Games — will come in as the reigning gold medalist in the 100m free.
Popovic had his coming-out at this year’s worlds in Budapest, sweeping golds in the 100m and 200m free. He didn’t get a chance to swim the 100m against Dressel, who dropped out of the event for health reasons before the final.
Milák, world record-holder in the 200m fly, hopes to also be part of the freestyle mix in Paris.
“My goal is very clear,” the Hungarian said. “I just want to reach a level in this event to arrive to Paris 2024 with the capability of swimming at a time somewhere very close to 47 seconds.”
Eighty-two per cent of people sampled in a study conducted by Victoria University have reported experiencing at least one form of interpersonal violence when participating in community sport as a child.
Key points:
Three-quarters of respondents said they had experienced psychological violence or neglect in children’s sport
Seventy-three per cent experienced violence from their peers, and 66 per cent said they had from a coach
Women experienced higher rates of sexual and psychological violence, as well as neglect
The survey, which is the most comprehensive of its kind in Australia, asked 886 adults whether they had experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence, as well as neglect, from either coaches, peers or parents during childhood.
Seventy-six per cent said they had experienced psychological violence or neglect, 66 per cent reported physical violence and 38 per cent reported sexual violence.
One in three respondents, meanwhile, said they had experienced all four forms of violence.
The respondents had participated in a large variety of sports, with nearly 70 represented.
Seventy per cent of respondents experienced physical and psychological violence from a peer. (Designed by The Infologist for Victoria University)
While such large numbers may come as a surprise to some, study co-author Mary Woessner said she was not shocked.
“From the literature, and knowing what’s happening internationally, I would say that’s right about what we were expecting,” Dr Woessner told the ABC.
“One of the first things you need to create change, positive change, is generate understanding that there’s a problem.
“We just want people to know it exists, so we can make evidence-based decisions to change it.”
Dr Woessner’s co-author, Aurélie Pankowiak, explained that the survey asked participants about explicit examples of violence they may have experienced in a sporting context.
Aurélie Pankowiak co-authored the study with Mary Woessner.(ABC News: Andie Noonan)
For neglect, for example, participants were asked if they had experienced being refused time off for medical injuries.
For psychological, participants were asked whether they had been insulted, threatened or humiliated (for example by being bullied, given an unwanted nickname violence or otherwise ostracised).
“We had very concrete examples of different types of violence, so we did not leave it up to the person’s interpretation of whether or not what they experienced was violent,” Dr Pankowiak said.
One reason for this, the authors say, is that it can take victims a long time to recognize that what they experienced constituted violence.
“The average reporting time for sexual abuse can be 20 years or longer,” Dr Woessner said.
“At the moment we have a system that relies on children telling us what happened while knowing that the vast majority of literature says they won’t [come forward] for years to come.
“That’s why in this study, the easiest and safest way of collecting this data was to do it retrospectively. [by asking adults].”
Most children experience violence from peers
In a first, the study sought to break down children’s experiences of violence by who perpetrated it, including peers and parents as well as coaches.
This breakdown showed that 73 per cent of respondents experienced violence from their peers, followed by coaches (60 per cent) and parents (35 per cent).
Most respondents had experienced violence from a peer. A coach was the next most common.(Designed by The Infologist for Victoria University)
Dr Woessner said distinguishing who was perpetrating violence was important because most academic literature, as well as media coverage, has focused on violence perpetrated by coaches, usually at the elite level.
This includes high-profile cases like that of Larry Nassar, the former US Olympic gymnastics team doctor who is serving an effective life sentence for sexually abusing at least 40 girls and women.
Australian swimmer Maddie Groves also recently came forward with the allegation that she was sexually abused by a former coach who is still working in the sport.
“You can distance yourself from an Olympic athlete experiencing abuse and start to think that it only happens at the elite level,” Dr Woessner said.
“There’s a mentality, ‘well that’s not my child, it’s not happening in my sport, or at my club’ … but I think with this data we can show that it might be.”
Data collected by Dr Pankowiak and Dr Woessner also showed significant gendered differences in the types of violence being experienced by men, women and gender-diverse people in childhood.
Women were more likely to experience sexual violence compared to men, while they were also more likely to experience psychological violence and neglect.
Men, on the other hand, were more likely to experience physical violence from a peer.
“When you talk about a gendered experience, we sometimes focus only on women,” Dr Woessner said.
“But it’s not that men aren’t experiencing violence, they’re just experiencing different types.”
Women experienced higher rates of sexual and psychological violence, as well as neglect.
The authors also analyzed a third category, gender-diverse people, encompassing those who identified as non-binary, gender questioning or selected “don’t know” for their gender identity.
While the sample size was small, at 17 people total, the authors found gender-diverse people experienced higher rates of many types of violence compared to cisgender men and women.
“We know from the literature broadly that marginalized communities experience institutionalized violence,” Dr Pankowiak said.
What was less clear, Dr Pankowiak said, was how the experience of systemic marginalization translated into interpersonal violence in a sporting context.
“We need an understanding of what’s driving those rates,” Dr Woessner said.
“We are talking about gender diversity here, but we know that the LGBTQI+ community broadly, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, they all have higher risks. We just don’t fully understand why and how that’s happening.”
A wake-up call with ‘no quick fix’
While this particular study did not look at the impacts of the childhood experience of violence, the authors said there was clear evidence that it could have lifelong detrimental effects.
“We do know that there are long-term impacts,” Dr Woessner said.
“Often they [victim survivors] leave sport. They might only leave the team they’re on, but there are some people who leave sport entirely.
Co-author Mary Woessner hopes the study will be a call to action for Australian sport.(ABC News: Andie Noonan)
“Beyond the individual, you see families torn apart, you see communities torn apart.
“Community sport is led by volunteers, and when something like this happens, it impacts not just the individual but their friends, their family, and by default the community.”
Moving forward, the authors argued it was essential to intervene early so that children and adults could continue to enjoy the many benefits sport provides.
“What we’re seeing in the data is that we have a cultural normalization of violence in sport,” Dr Woessner said.
“It’s systemic, there’s not one type of violence or only one type of perpetrator and it’s happening across all sports.”
Dr Woessner added that while there was no “quick fix”, there were clear steps sports could take to safeguard children.
“When we’re thinking about changing culture, we need to go a step further than just education and policies,” Dr Woessner said.
“We need to go from the ground up and work with clubs on initiatives that are long-lasting and can create behavioral change.
“I would hope that this data starts to change public perception on the prevalence of these experiences in community sport and that it calls sports to action.”
If you believe you have experienced violence during your childhood participation in sport, you can lodge a complaint through Sport Integrity Australia’s online portal.
Candice Warner has ventured into the murky waters of the Commonwealth Games’ swimming “love triangle”, offering up some blunt criticism for Kyle Chalmers.
She revealed her surprise about how badly he handled the headlines after a “media frenzy” over his relationship with ex and Commonwealth Games golden girl Emma McKeon and her new boyfriend, pop star-turned fellow swimmer Cody Simpson.
Acknowledging “alpha male” Chalmers’ ego “would be burnt a little bit” by McKeon’s new relationship, Warner said she expected someone who had dealt with media scrutiny since 2016 — when he won the gold medal for the 100m freestyle at the Rio Olympics — to manage his interactions with the media far better.
“He knows how to deal with the pressure. Why is he allowing the media to make these comments?” the former ironwoman and wife of Australian cricketer David Warner asked on Fox Sports program The Back Page.
“Why hasn’t he put a self-imposed media ban (on himself) until the Games are over? I’m just really a little bit confused by the situation and why he’s engaging with the media.
Candice Warner had some strong opinions about how Kyle Chalmers handled the media at the Commonwealth Games. Credit: Richard Dobson
“He’s not in the wrong, but he also has the power and ability to stop it and also just to focus on his swim events.
“Should I know how to deal with this pressure? Should I know how to deal with this completely?”
Rumors of a supposed rift between Chalmers and Simpson dominated media coverage of the Australian swim team’s success at the Commonwealth Games, leading Chalmers to admit that he was considering quitting the Games and the sport entirely over the mental anguish it had caused.
Cody Simpson picked up a gold medal in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
The swim star accused the media of using him for “clickbait” by publishing stories about his relationships with Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson.
“It’s all just false news that is actually just crap, it’s honestly just a load of sh*t that is not true,” Chalmers told reporters.
After winning the 100m freestyle gold medal in Birmingham on Monday night, Chalmers climbed on the lane rope and signaled silence in a message to media about his ordeal.
Emma McKeon hasn’t let the “love triangle” rumors get the better of her performance in the pool, bringing home a big haul of gold medals. Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
After the race he said his last two days had “been hell.”
“I just hope no-one has to go through what I have had to go through over the last 48 hours,” the 24-year-old said.
As the curtain closed on another stellar Commonwealth Games swimming campaign from the Australian Dolphins, one of the stars of the team has revealed how Kyle Chalmers’s unwanted media attention and mental health struggles had rippled through the squad she describes as “a family.”
Key points:
Kyle Chalmers has been open about his mental health struggles throughout the Birmingham Games
Ariarne Titmus says intense media scrutiny has the potential to impact the whole team
The Dolphins won 65 medals, the best haul Australian swimmers have ever produced at the Commonwealth Games
“I think we all kind of feel part of it,” said Ariarne Titmus, moments after winning her fourth gold medal of the week, for the 400m Freestyle.
“Because we are all so close, we are such a close team, and I think that’s why we perform so well, because we have each others’ backs.
“I think it potentially can affect us emotionally because they’re our friends, they’re teammates. We’re like a family and we don’t like seeing people upset and put through durations.
“And we’ve come out here and done our best and done our country proud and I think the swimming does the talking. We’ve killed it this week and I hope that Australia is proud of our performance and we’ve done our absolute best for the country and we’re going to go home with some extra luggage.”
Chalmers has been the center of intense scrutiny over his personal life. Then, on Saturday night, it came to a dramatic head, when after anchoring the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay to a gold-medal victory, he faced more questioning over an “apparent” rift within the Australian swim team.
Despite going through what he described as “the most-challenging, probably 48 hours of my swimming career”, he produced an incredible swim in 100m freestyle final days later, to claim the gold medal.
He climbed onto the lane ropes and put a finger to his mouth, after winning.
Gold medalist Kyle Chalmers sent a message to the media after weeks of intense scrutiny.(AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
On Thursday morning (AEST), his Commonwealth Games campaign came to an end in the 4×100 medley relay, with Chalmers swimming the final leg and Australia finishing second, just 0.08 behind England.
Chalmers said he was “relieved” the week was now over.
“For me, everyday — like we say — is day one,” he said.
“So it’s all about getting yourself up and performing every time you pull the Australian cap on, especially tonight swimming in relays.
“It’s my favorite thing and the reason why I do the sport is to be a part of the relays … so, for me, it’s all about pushing everything aside, racing every time I stand up, doing my absolute best.
“And, obviously, this next week is probably going to be reflecting on it and looking at all the positives that have come. There’s so many things to be grateful for: being part of the team, it’s special.”
“And we are all so close and it’s been a very, very successful week in the pool for us and, hopefully, we’re able to celebrate a little bit tonight as a team and, obviously, we all depart tomorrow. It’s been great .”
The Dolphins head back home with 65 medals they’ve won in the pool: 25 gold, 21 silver and 19 bronze.
It’s the best gold medal haul Australia has ever produced at Commonwealth Games in swimming.
“The team has really gotten around each other. This could possibly [have] been one of the best Comm Games medal tallies from the swim team, so I think it’s unreal to be a part of and the whole swim team has done so well,” 4×100 mixed relay silver medalist Matt Temple said.
Kyle Chalmers said it took all his strength and courage to win his third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the men’s 100m freestyle.
It wasn’t his fastest swim, but he said it was “bigger than just me racing”.
“It’s very, very bittersweet. It’s been the most-challenging, probably 48 hours of my swimming career,” Chalmers said.
“And, as much as it’s nice to win, it’s probably just a big sense of relief, rather than the satisfaction that I thought I’d feel and want to feel after a performance like that.”
Chalmers has been the center of intense scrutiny over his personal life, and it came to a head at the Sandwell Aquatics Center a couple of nights ago, where he faced more questioning over unsourced rumors about rifts in the team after winning the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay .
The 24-year-old considered walking away, and admitted he barely slept ahead of the 100m freestyle heats.
But I have pushed on to send a message.
Gold medalist Kyle Chalmers sent a message to the media after weeks of intense scrutiny.(AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“I’ve definitely had big battles with mental health over a long time, and it’s one of the most-challenging things that I’ve had to face and see my teammates face and family face,” he said.
“I think it’s important that people have the courage to stand up and speak about it.
“I’ve been around for a while and I need to create the conversation and try to help people going through similar things and just make it more normal.
“If I can be a positive influence and try to help people in the same struggles, I know that I’m doing my job in the sport and hopefully inspiring people.”
Chalmers was also racing for a special viewer back home.
His brother is in the army and hasn’t had access to his phone, but he was given special permission to watch the race.
“He’s my best mate, someone I haven’t got to speak to a lot over this last little period. And the only reason I was able to have the strength to get back in the pool yesterday for the heat was FaceTiming my brother the night before,” Chalmers said.
“I think, for me, it’s going to be a while to break down what’s just happened,” he added.
“I’m very, very grateful for all the support I’ve had at home, and it’s been very overwhelming how many people have reached out to me and so many high-profile people as well who fight similar battles in their sports or respective fields.”
Kyle’s father, Brett Chalmers, spoke to Mix 102.3 Adelaide after the 100m freestyle medal win, and said Swimming Australia does not do enough to protect athletes from invasive media questioning.
“They failed hugely,” he told the Ali Clarke Breakfast Show.
“To me, it’s the workplace. They’ve got a due diligence to look after their people and their staff and their athletes right from the start.”
The former AFL player became emotional when he was asked about the media furore surrounding his son’s Birmingham campaign.
“If it was in [another] workplace and you kept getting asked the same question over and over and over again, it’s a form of bullying and harassment,” Brett Chalmers said through tears.
“It’s not condoned and it’s not accepted. You’d be pulled into the manager’s office or HR’s office pretty fast and if you didn’t stop you’d probably lose your job.
“These people get away with it. They destroy people’s lives and livelihoods.
Kyle Chalmers said it took all his strength and courage to win his third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the men’s 100m freestyle.
It wasn’t his fastest swim, but he said it was “bigger than just me racing”.
“It’s very, very bittersweet. It’s been the most-challenging, probably 48 hours of my swimming career,” Chalmers said.
“And, as much as it’s nice to win, it’s probably just a big sense of relief, rather than the satisfaction that I thought I’d feel and want to feel after a performance like that.”
Chalmers has been the center of intense scrutiny over his personal life, and it came to a head at the Sandwell Aquatics Center a couple of nights ago, where he faced more questioning over unsourced rumors about rifts in the team after winning the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay .
The 24-year-old considered walking away, and admitted he barely slept ahead of the 100m freestyle heats.
But I have pushed on to send a message.
Gold medalist Kyle Chalmers sent a message to the media after weeks of intense scrutiny.(AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)
“I’ve definitely had big battles with mental health over a long time, and it’s one of the most-challenging things that I’ve had to face and see my teammates face and family face,” he said.
“I think it’s important that people have the courage to stand up and speak about it.
“I’ve been around for a while and I need to create the conversation and try to help people going through similar things and just make it more normal.
“If I can be a positive influence and try to help people in the same struggles, I know that I’m doing my job in the sport and hopefully inspiring people.”
Chalmers was also racing for a special viewer back home.
His brother is in the army and hasn’t had access to his phone, but he was given special permission to watch the race.
“He’s my best mate, someone I haven’t got to speak to a lot over this last little period. And the only reason I was able to have the strength to get back in the pool yesterday for the heat was FaceTiming my brother the night before,” Chalmers said.
“I think, for me, it’s going to be a while to break down what’s just happened,” he added.
“I’m very, very grateful for all the support I’ve had at home, and it’s been very overwhelming how many people have reached out to me and so many high-profile people as well who fight similar battles in their sports or respective fields.”
Kyle’s father, Brett Chalmers, spoke to Mix 102.3 Adelaide after the 100m freestyle medal win, and said Swimming Australia does not do enough to protect athletes from invasive media questioning.
“They failed hugely,” he told the Ali Clarke Breakfast Show.
“To me, it’s the workplace. They’ve got a due diligence to look after their people and their staff and their athletes right from the start.”
The former AFL player became emotional when he was asked about the media furore surrounding his son’s Birmingham campaign.
“If it was in [another] workplace and you kept getting asked the same question over and over and over again, it’s a form of bullying and harassment,” Brett Chalmers said through tears.
“It’s not condoned and it’s not accepted. You’d be pulled into the manager’s office or HR’s office pretty fast and if you didn’t stop you’d probably lose your job.
“These people get away with it. They destroy people’s lives and livelihoods.
Sometimes it’s not about winning, it’s just about getting in the pool.
And Chelsea Hodges’s bronze medal in the women’s 50 meter breaststroke was proof of that.
“The last 12 months have been really hard,” she told ABC Sport.
“Just to come back to do that swim, no words for it. I’m just incredibly proud of myself.”
The Olympics Comedown
At the Tokyo Olympics, the 21-year-old was part of Australia’s successful 4x100m medley relay team, becoming another member of the Dolphins’ gold medal factory.
She was on top of the world, a rising star among an exciting crop of young talent, and everyone told her life was going to change.
Except that it didn’t.
“Normally swimming is what she uses to get rid of the stress, that’s the place she goes to find peace,” mum Catie Hodges told ABC Sport.
“But she said, ‘what do you do when the pool is what’s causing the stress?'”
Chelsea Hodges (right) found it hard to adjust to life after winning gold in Tokyo.(Getty: Jean Catuffe)
Chelsea said it got the point where she “questioned why I was in the sport.”
“I went through that bit of a post-Olympic depression and just really struggled and lost my love for the sport,” she said.
She threw herself back into swimming after Tokyo, helping out with swim clinics, and her family thought all was well.
But one day she broke down in tears and told her mum what was really going on.
“From the age of three she said she wanted to swim for Australia,” Catie said.
“And she said: ‘I got there and I won this, you always say it wouldn’t be great if I won a gold medal and you won it and go, now what? It doesn’t feel like you think it would feel .’
“She was worried that she wouldn’t be fast again and so she thought about quitting.”
Hodges’s support system kicked into gear to help get her through and back in the pool.
Hodges says she’s rediscovered her love of the sport.(Getty: Quinn Rooney)
“My friends and family at home, my squad mates at home are my absolute rock and they really pushed me through,” Chelsea said.
“I had a few days where I just sat beside the pool and had about six of them next to me giving me hugs, so they really did help me, they made me fall in love with the sport again.
“This moment right here is exactly why I’m in it.”
Hodges isn’t the only Dolphin who’s dealt with a difficult Tokyo aftermath.
After winning Commonwealth Games bronze in the men’s 200m freestyle, Elijah Winnington shared similar thoughts.
“Two months after the Games, I wasn’t sure if I’d even swim again, I was really struggling with motivation,” he said.
“What was going through my mind was ‘what’s the point if I’m putting in all this hard work, and I get a result like at the Olympics [7th and 22nd]?’
“So I ended up getting in contact with some really special people and my mind coach now who I talk to every day who’s really built on my mindset to how I can push forward and keep improving mentally, and not just the physical side.”
Looking backwards and forwards to find your way
Jake Templeton has had to rely on resilience too, to remain motivated.
After a four-year hiatus from the international scene, he marked his return with bronze in the men’s 50m freestyle S13, for vision-impaired swimmers.
The Tasmanian missed selection for the 2019 world championships by a tiny margin and wasn’t selected for last year’s Paralympics despite swimming a qualifying time.
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He was philosophical about his journey.
“I like to look backwards and forwards,” he said.
“I like to look back at the things that were a bit of heartbreak, and then I like to look forward at moments like tonight where I just want to win a medal.
“I just knew that I wasn’t done yet, so I had a bit of a vengeance and something to prove.”
Katja Dedekind broke the first world record of the meet, in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 final.
“I thought the worlds was my best time that I could do this year and to be honest, if that was my best time this year I would have been happy,” she said.
“But a PB, world record, Commonwealth Games champion, world champion in the same year, stoked.
“I feel like I’m only just knocking on the door of all the knowledge that there is in the swimming world.”
