Games-'Love triangle' creating waves for Australia in Games pool

BIRMINGHAM, England : Australian swimmers have swept the podium, broken world records, set milestones and won a mountain of medals at the Commonwealth Games pool but all anyone wants to talk about is a supposed 'love triangle' with golden girl Emma McK aeonat the centre.

Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers and singer turned swimmer Cody Simpson (once romantically linked to American rocker Miley Cyrus) are the other two players in this frothy affaire de coeur that has been tabloid fodder for some time in Australia.

Chalmers has been largely portrayed as the villain, the jilted lover out for revenge, including attempts to sabotage Simpson's Olympic ambitions.

It did not take long for the soap opera to surface at the Sandwell Aquatic Centre, with Chalmers flying into a social media storm on Day One of the competition on Friday after some media reports accused him of snubbing former-girlfriend McK aeonon the medal podium following Australia's triumph in the 4x100 metres freestyle mixed relay.

After months of denying any rift with his two team mates, a fired up Chalmers has gone on the attack in Birmingham, labelling the reports as fake news. He accused the media of having no regard for the athletes' wellbeing and said mentally he had "hit rock bottom" and was prepared to leave the sport.

But the 24-year-old was back in the pool on Monday, winning the 100 metre freestyle and claiming it had taken, "all his courage to stand up and race".

"For me these last 48 hours have been hell, it's been an emotional rollercoaster," said Chalmers after collecting his third gold of the Games. "I almost started crying and I'm not an emotional person.

"It is a bittersweet feeling for me, instead of enjoying the moment it is almost a big sense of relief to