‘More purpose’: swim star hails Rinehart’s cash bonuses

Freestyle king Kyle Chalmers has welcomed potential windfalls for Australia’s Commonwealth Games swimmers after Gina Rinehart offered up cash bonuses for medals and world records.

Amid a spate of high-profile athlete withdrawals from Glasgow 2026, Dolphins squad members have been given a significant incentive to take part.

Billionaire Rinehart has confirmed she will deliver the same bonuses that were on offer in the pool at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Individual swimmers will pocket $20,000 for a gold medal, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze and $30,000 for a world record.

Relay team members will also be rewarded with $7500 per person for a world record, $5000 for a gold medal, $3750 for silver and $2500 for bronze.

Australians are well placed to cash in, with Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh skipping the Glasgow Games as she and other rivals focus on the ensuing Pan Pacific championships.

The swimming bonanza comes as many athletes in other sports lament a lack of financial support, despite Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) providing a $5000 grant to every member of the Glasgow team.

“I’m super grateful to have the support of CGA to get us here, but to be able to have some medal incentive, it gives us a lot more purpose and reason,” sprint star Chalmers said ahead of the opening ceremony.

“Otherwise you get a medal and the uniform … so (I’m) very grateful to have supporters.

“CGA’s made this possible, and the Commonwealth Games internationally being able to put it on, but to have some incentive for all of our hard work is crucial, especially for us older athletes.”

The 28-year-old added Australia’s swimmers are “very lucky” with the level of support they receive compared to some other sports.

But the seven-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist insists it remains “very challenging” for many swimmers to juggle arduous training schedules with work and study.

“It’s a choice you make and I guess you kind of understand the financial position of the sport,” Chalmers said.

“But fingers crossed there can be change for the next generation to kind of motivate them to continue to make the sacrifices and choose our sport, just to keep those talented athletes in there.”

Rinehart’s bonus scheme was announced by Swimming Queensland, of which the mining magnate is patron, while Australia’s chef de mission Petria Thomas distanced CGA from it.

“That’s a separate arrangement and it’s not something that Commonwealth Games Australia is involved in whatsoever,” former swimmer Thomas said.

“Good luck to the swimmers, I guess. They have someone backing that performance, but that’s a separate matter for them.”

The bonuses come on top of annual payments Rinehart makes to many of Australia’s top-tier swimmers.

Athletes who win multiple medals will receive a payment for every medal they win.

In a statement, Rinehart said the bonuses are a way of Australia showing appreciation.

“There is something very uplifting about seeing an Australian athlete stand on the podium while our flag is raised,” Rinehart said.

Meanwhile, Katarina Johnson-Thompson heads a list of nine members of the England athletics squad that pulled out of the Games on the morning of the opening ceremony.

Four more Olympic medallists – Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Amber Anning – are also out.

Like Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic 800 metres champion who did not pursue selection, the injured and “gutted” Johnson-Thompson indicated she will switch her focus to the European championships in Birmingham next month.