Swim king Kyle Chalmers makes stunning confession as he opens up about getting death threats – and the big plan he shares with his glamorous fiancée

Australian swimming champion Kyle Chalmers has opened up about the torrent of death threats and abuse he received from angry Chinese fans during the Paris Olympics – before revealing he’d ‘never’ had a holiday until recently.

Chalmers went through a rollercoaster of emotions at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as claims of a ‘love triangle’ emerged between himself and new swimming Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson.

The ordeal led to Chalmers seriously considering quitting the sport he loves, but he returned in Paris with a vengeance with his Norwegian swimmer fiancée Ingeborg Løyning.

Many favoured Chalmers to win the final of the 100m freestyle, but he was beaten  by Chinese rival Zhanle Pan, who smashed the world record.

Talking with a Chinese news network after the race, Pan took aim at Chalmers and accused him of snubbing him after claiming silver in the one-sided final.

That led to a firestorm of abuse that Chalmers wasn’t prepared for.

‘It was very stressful in that period, getting heaps of death threats come through and pretty horrendous messages,’ Chalmers told News Corp.

Chalmers (right) was on the end of terrible abuse after coming second to China’s Zhanle Pan (middle) in the 100m freestyle final at the Paris Olympics

‘And then they started targeting my fiancée and family, and that becomes hard.

‘Being on the other side of the world, you can’t do a lot about it.

‘I’m trying to swim as well as check in on family who are in Paris, travelling around solo.’

The abuse has since died down and Chalmers has returned to recharge his batteries at his home in outer Adelaide – explaining that he has not had a single break up until now in a remarkable admission.

‘I’ve never been on a holiday before so it’s kind of important for me to have some time away from the pool at the moment,’ he said.  

Chalmers, who is back working as a labourer, is now planning two weddings with his partner Ingeborg – one in Norway and one in Australia.

After his swimming career is over, he plans to complete his trade qualifications and return to his childhood home of Port Lincoln.

Chalmers and Loyning (pictured together) are now planning on opening a swim school in Australia after they get married

Chalmers hopes to return to his home town of Port Lincoln when his swimming career is over

‘Being a builder over there is a job you can transition into pretty quickly and easily, so yeah, that’d be the goal,’ he says.

He and Ingeborg are also thinking about starting up a swim school in the near future.

‘We’re starting to set the foundations for that, do the business plan and start having the conversations to be able to do that,’ he says.

Chalmers is still passionate about swimming and will surely be lighting up the pool again soon.

‘I love my sport, I love the lifestyle, I love swimming, I love being an athlete,’ he says.