Kyle Chalmers labelled 'greatest in history' as absent Ariarne Titmus put on notice by rival

Kyle Chalmers has been lauded as one of the greatest anchor swimmers of all time having reeled in a huge lead from Italy and the US to win gold in the men's 4x100m relay at the world championships in Singapore. Meanwhile, Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh has once again proven her superstardom having blitzed the field in the women's 400m relay in the absence of Ariarne Titmus.

The Aussie relay team consisting of Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani were expected to finish behind the US and Italy and they trailed heading into the final 100m. However Chalmers cemented his status as one of the greatest anchor swimmers Australia has ever seen having chased down Italy to win in a championship record time of 3:08.97.

Kyle Chalmers (pictured right) helped Australia win the 4x100m relay at the World Championships in record time, while Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh (pictured left) has put Aussie Ariarne Titmus. on notice. (Images: Getty Images/CBC Sport)

Italy finished in second at 3:09.58 and the fading US (3:09.64) finished third, but it was Chalmers' final 100m dash that left the swimming world in awe. Chalmers swam his leg in 46.53 seconds, which is a clear fastest-time for the race, toppling China's Zhanle Pan.

Aussie Taylor had the fourth-best split of any swimmer with all four members doing their role to help secure the championship record. Teammate Southam was left in awe of Chalmers' final leg having claimed he was cheering him on across the final 100 metres. 

"I've kind of lost my voice already from cheering so hard," Southam said. "I'm just so happy to be here, and we all swam out of our skin, and we did it for the country, and we're so proud of ourselves."

Chalmers has been in fantastic form in 2025 after the 26-year-old touched in at 47.29 at the Aussie trials last month. At the time it was the third-fastest time of the year and Chalmers already recorded the second-fastest time of 2025.

Gold medalists Flynn Southam, Kai James Taylor, Maximillan Giuliani and Kyle Chalmers celebrate their world record.

The silver medallist at the Paris Olympic Games admitted he is enjoying his swimming since competing in Paris and taking the pressure of himself has seem him produce some of the best swimming of his career. And Aussie fans were quick to laud the sprinter as arguably Australia's greatest ever anchor.

Canadian McIntosh headed into the world championships with plenty of hype around the 18-year-old having shattered a number of world records at her national trials. And the young superstar already showed why she will be the biggest name in the pool come the 2028 Olympics having dominated the 400m freestyle winning with a time of 3:52.26. 

This was nearly two seconds faster than China's Li Bingjie and well ahead of American legend great Katie Ledecky in bronze. This was McIntosh's first world title at 18 years old as she eyes five medals at the event. And her performance would have put Aussie Titmus on notice who is skipping the championships to focus on the Olympics. Lani Pallister (3:58.87) produced a personal-best effort, but finished fourth in the event.

Summer McIntosh (pictured) put Ariarne Titmus on notice having won the 400m freestyle event.

Titmus is taking time away from the pool after the Paris Games. Titmus saw fellow Aussie Lani Pallister break her 800m national record last month in Australia, and then McIntosh break the 400m world record in the Canadian trials. And McIntosh just delivered on the big stage at just 18 years old. 

Titmus is set to return after the championships with one eye on the Olympics, but she will have one eye on world record holder McIntosh who is only getting faster in every event she competes in. And she even claimed fans haven't seen her at her best in the 400m event. 

"I think the 400 freestyle in past world championships and Olympics, I haven't been at my best and I haven't been where I want to be," she said. "So to finally stand on the centre of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet." Such is McIntosh's talent, she couldn't celebrate her 400m gold for too long having to immediately prepare for the 200m individual medley semi-final.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sport Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/kyle-chalmers-labelled-greatest-in-history-as-absent-ariarne-titmus-put-on-notice-by-rival-233948400.html

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