Olympic swimming champion Kyle Chalmers is confident his Tokyo Games campaign is on track after undergoing heart surgery for the third time.
Barely a month after his successful 2019 world titles campaign, the Australian sprinter had the operation on Monday to treat a heart condition first diagnosed at the age of 12 "once and for all".
The 21-year-old suffers from supraventricular tachycardia which can cause a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and fainting.
"Third time lucky ...fingers crossed today's heart surgery fixed the problem once and for all," the Rio 100m freestyle champion posted on Instagram.
"Thanks again everyone for your support."
Chalmers is confident he has ample time to recover and defend his Olympic title in Tokyo.
The Tokyo selection trials will not be held until June 2020 in his home base of Adelaide.
And Chalmers has shown he can bounce back from heart surgery in the past.
Chalmers last had the operation back in 2017, missing that year's world titles after having an episode while competing at the 2016 Australian short course titles in Brisbane.
However, he made a triumphant return at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games by claiming five medals including four gold.
He arguably made his biggest impact at that year's Pan Pacs in Tokyo where he dethroned world champion Caeleb Dressel of the United States to win 100m freestyle gold amidst a four-medal haul.
The stage is set for an epic 100m freestyle showdown at the Tokyo 2020 Games after Chalmers clocked 47.08 seconds - third on the Australian all-time list - to be pipped by Dressel at July's world titles at South Korea.
Chalmers was also part of Australia's winning 4x200m freestyle team at Gwangju, collecting a total of five medals at the world titles.
Australian Associated Press
