Why Chalmers was right to fire up at IOC over athlete funding

Updated June 12, 2026 — 5:50pm,first published June 11, 2026 — 10:57pm

Laugh all you want about the Enhanced Games and the lack of world records broken last month, but be warned: a serious reality check could be coming for Olympic sport, and Australian swimming in particular.

Kyle Chalmers’ scathing remarks on Thursday night about the lack of financial incentives for athletes should put sporting governing bodies on high alert.

James Magnussen hauling himself back into the pool after years of retirement for some cash and free peptides is easy to dismiss. The prospect of genuine Australian Olympic medal contenders defecting to the Enhanced Games because of the money on offer is not.

Not to dope, but to race clean for life-changing prizemoney.

Behind the scenes, athletes – swimmers in particular – are increasingly frustrated by what they see as a lack of financial reward from the International Olympic Committee.

Last month, Australian Olympian and Sydney 2000 hero Liesel Jones questioned whether the sacrifices required to reach the top were even worth it, bluntly observing that “glory doesn’t pay the bills”.

If there was any doubt about how strongly athletes feel about the issue, Chalmers erased it when he walked over to waiting reporters on Thursday night at Australia’s swimming trials ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The topic had clearly been simmering away, and Chalmers is never one to hold back.

“It’s very easy for a lot of us swimmers to voice our concerns at times, but nothing seems to change. There’s millions of dollars being left in bank accounts where people are using our image and our performances and we don’t reap the rewards. It goes for not only the IOC but right down.

“As a 28-year-old with a young family and a mortgage, it’s very hard to continue. We fund these things ourselves. For me to come to trials, it cost me $5000. For me to race tonight, it cost me $36. It’s a sport that takes a lot from you.

“I really hope that, from the top right down, there’s going to be some change … I don’t see why you would probably choose this avenue honestly, as sad as it is.

“We’re in a really tough time in our sport. There’s a very big false narrative out there that if you’re an Olympic athlete winning gold medals, that you’ve kind of set yourself up in life. It’s very far from the truth.”

Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev, who finished fifth in the 50m freestyle at the Paris Olympics, has made more than $3 million in just over a year after joining the Enhanced Games. Before that, his lone major international medal was a silver at the 2019 world