Kyle Chalmers Reportedly Chooses Commonwealth Over Pan Pacs as Rinehart Offers Big Cash Awards
Originally published by by Braden Keith of Swim Swam
19.03.2026
Australian sprint superstar Kyle Chalmers will skip out on Pan Pacs in favor of the Commonwealth Games, The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting.
The Herald’s chief sports writer Tom Decent has said that Swimming Australia benefactor and mining magnate Gina Rinehart has laid down significant cash bonuses for Australian swimmers who attend the Commonwealth Games.
Specifically, she will pay $20,000 if they win gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze. In addition, members of a gold medal relay team will receive $5,000 and any World Records will earn a cool $30,000 bonus.
Decent paints this offer as a publicity salvation for Seven Network, Australia’s rights holder for the Commonwealth Games. The 2026 Games have been fraught from the get, especially in Australia, where the state of Victoria awarded the initial right to host the Games. Victoria would eventually cancel its hosting duties, leaving Glasgow, Scotland to host a scaled-back version of the event (sans divers).
Australia is the dominant swimming country at the Commonwealth Games, having won 25 out of the 52 gold medals and 65 out of the 156 total medals on offer in 2022. While England has not announced most of its roster, Canada, the 3rd place nation in the 2022 medals table, has already confirmed a very small roster without superstar Summer McIntosh.
Many Commonwealth nations, including Canada and Australia, have the option of racing at the Pan Pacific Championships. The Commonwealth Games closes just 13 days before the Pan Pacs start in Los Angeles, though, so the double is a tough one given the travel involved.
While some popular athletes, including track sprinter Gout Gout, have chosen to skip the Commonwealth Games, one swimming star Kyle Chalmers has chosen to attend – and bypass the Pan Pac Championships.
Decent reports that this is because he is due back for parenting duties. His partner Ingeborg Loyning, also an elite swimmer, is returning to competitive swimming.
Australia will televise the Australian Trials in June, which is the selection event for both meets.
