'Smarter, not harder': Kyle Chalmers changing training regimen following 2024 Olympics

Jed Wells

'Smarter, not harder': Kyle Chalmers changing training regimen following 2024 Olympics image

Kyle Chalmers has overhauled his training regime, following his third Olympics last year in Paris.

Now 27, Chalmers is one of the country's most decorated swimmers, boasting seven Olympic and 12 World Championship medals across an impressive career.

But as he targets his fourth Summer Games come 2028 in Los Angeles, Chalmers has drastically changed the way in which he trains. 

Kyle Chalmers changing training regime following 2024 Olympics

Quality over quantity is the new ethos for Kyle Chalmers, who has significantly reduced his training workload following the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Speaking to journalist and former Olympic champion Mel Stewart, Chalmers revealed that a lessened workload has him feeling even more powerful in the pool. 

"[My workload has] changed massively," Chalmers said.

"Meeting with my sports physiologist that I've worked with for the last 13 years at the end of last year, I was a little bit burnt out, but a little bit unsure how I was going to continue on or how that was going to look in terms of moving back to Adelaide, trying to find a new coach.

"He said to me, 'You're getting older now, it's about training smarter, not training harder.'

"He's worked a lot with cycling and athletics in the past. So a lot of the stuff we're doing is based around what those sports have done In terms of how many efforts they do in training, what efforts they're doing."

Chalmers revealed that he went from "Nine sessions a week, close to 50 kilometres", to now swimming just three kilometres once a day, as he and his team reduce the distance and ramp up the intensity. 

Jed Wells

Jed is a writer and social media producer, who has a keen interest in the intersection of sports and popular culture, especially basketball.