PARIS, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers said Saturday he had the utmost respect for Chinese rival Pan Zhanle, dismissing any notion of bad blood between the pair.
Chalmers said reports that he had snubbed Pan during the Paris Olympics swimming competition were incorrect and revealed the swimmers had a growing friendship.
"We've exchanged messages which has been really nice," Chalmers said after the men's mixed medley relay heat at La Defense Arena.
"I'm supposed to be going to the World Cup series, and obviously the first leg is in Shanghai. He's looking forward to having me there and wanted to show me around, so that makes me a lot more excited about going," said Chalmers.
Pan, 19, won the Olympic 100m freestyle gold medal in a world record time of 46.40 seconds on Wednesday with Chalmers, the gold medalist at Rio 2016, taking silver.
"I don't think there was any animosity ever," Chalmers said. "From my point of view, I spoke to him in the marshaling room before the race, after the race went straight over and shook his hand in the pool, on the podium shook his hand, and then had a great conversation before we started our cool down."
Last year, Chalmers won gold in the 100m freestyle at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, while Pan finished fourth.
Chalmers said he hoped a friendly rivalry would continue in the coming years.
"I really look forward to progressing our relationship and challenging each other and having some amazing battles in the pool over the years," the 26-year-old said.
"It's 1-1 now. Last year we raced at the world championships and I got the better of him, but this year he got the better of me. So I look forward to taking it to round three next year." ■
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