The Olympic pool has a new king of speed.
Australian, Kyle Chalmers, 18, dethroned defending champion Nathan Adrian in the final of the 100-meter freestyle Wednesday night, taking that title Down Under for the first time in 48 years.
In a furious down-and-back sprint, Chalmers rallied on the return lap to win with a time of 47.58 seconds. Pieter Timmers of Belgium claimed the silver in 47.80, and Adrian took the bronze in 47.85.
"I feel great about getting another medal," said Adrian, who barely advanced out of the preliminaries but nearly pulled off the first back-to-back titles in the 100 since Pieter van den Hoogenband in 2000 and 2004. "It would be great to have gold, but in this day and age the 100 freestyle is maybe the most fickle event out there. I am so proud to be a medalist for two Olympiads."
For Australia, known more for its distance freestylers, Chalmers became the country's first 100 free champion since Michael Wenden at Mexico City in 1968.
He is also the youngest Olympic gold medalist in that event since 17-year-old Jorg Woithe of East Germany at the 1980 Moscow Games.
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