Commonwealth Games: Kyle Chalmers avoids Cody Simpson duel as Aussie star pulls OUT of 100m fly

Kyle Chalmers and Cody Simpson avoided a showdown at the Commonwealth Games after the former opted to pull out of the 100m butterfly to concentrate on the 100m freestyle.

Chalmers was scheduled to swim in the 100m butterfly heats on Monday night (AEDT), but skipped the event to prepare for the 100m freestyle final on Tuesday instead.

It is no surprise to see Chalmers opting to preserve energy for his favourite event, particularly as he has already competed in the 4x100m freestyle and the 4x100m mixed freestyle relays in Birmingham – claiming gold in both races.

Simpson, meanwhile, finished third in his heat, touching in 52.47seconds behind the English pair of Jamie Ingram and Jacob Thomas Taylor Peters.

The Aussie qualified fifth-best for the semi-finals, less than two tenths of a second behind Australian record holder Matt Temple, who clocked the fourth-fastest time with 52.28seconds.

Like Chalmers, Simpson has already claimed a medal in Birmingham in the 4x100m freestyle relay – although he did not swim in the final.

The duo have dominated the headlines in the lead up to the Commonwealth games, but their achievements in the pool have been overshadowed by their private lives.

While Cody Simpson qualified for the semi-finals with the fifth-fastest time 

Pop star Simpson has made a sensational return to swimming and is dating Chalmers’ ex-flame Emma McKeon, who won four gold at the Olympic Games last year.

On Saturday, Chalmers claimed the negative attention over a perceived frosty relationship between him and Simpson had taken a toll on his teammates and stolen the spotlight from their achievements, accusing the media of ‘ruining it for us all’. 

He doubled down on his criticism of the media 24 hours later, insisting he ‘took all his courage’ to compete on Sunday and revealing he was considering his future in the sport. 

Chalmers threatened to quit swimming if ‘false news’ continued to circulate that he was in a love triangle rift with Simpson and his ex-flame Emma McKeon (right)

Chalmers doubled down on his criticism of the media in an emotional interview with Seven on Sunday shortly after he breezed through the 100m freestyle heats (above) 

Meanwhile, Kaylee McKeown qualified fastest for the 200m backstroke final, with fellow Aussie Minna Atherton finishing third-fastest. 

The reigning Olympic and world champion in the 200m backstroke, McKeown also qualified for the 200m individual medley final with the seventh-fastest time. 

Abbey Harkin and Ella Ramsay finished ahead of her with the joint-fourth and sixth-fastest time respectively, while Sam Williamson, Grayson Bell and Joshua Young are all through to the semi-finals of the men’s 50m breastroke.