Cam McEvoy reckons there are three things you can be sure of in life.
"Death, taxes and Kyle Chalmers winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games," he beams. "Oh, I love that quote."
It popped into his mind again on the final night of the Glasgow swimming program when Chalmers, at 28 and having just been dethroned in an end-of-era 100m freestyle defeat, rebounded thrillingly -- and more than a mite surprisingly -- to tie for gold in the 50m butterfly.
Even the world's fastest swimmer McEvoy had to settle for bronze behind his rejuvenated mate and joint-champ Ben Armbruster, leaving him to muse on what Chalmers' shelf life might now be after a week which made him Australia's most bemedalled men's Commonwealth swimming champ.
And the 32-year-old McEvoy admitted he couldn't help but see his old mate, even at a ripe old pool age of 28, "as a little young gun coming through".
After his 100m free defeat to Flynn Southam, Chalmers, now married and the father of a one-year-old girl, admitted he was reassessing his priorities with the Los Angeles Olympic looming two years hence.
But the next night, he seemed so buoyed by gold No.10 that he wasn't even ruling out the prospect of competing at the next Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad in 2030.
This didn't surprise McEvoy, who has a vision that he and his fellow Olympic champ could both be competing together in a home pool at the 2032 Games.
"I could definitely see both of us in Brisbane in 2032," mused McEvoy.
"Look, he says he's old, he's 28 -- but I started back at that age, when I was doing this back in 2022.
"His 100 free here wasn't in form. It was kind of in no man's land. But despite that, he still pulls out a lifetime best, equals the Australian record, a Games record, and gets a gold medal on the last day of competition in the 50 fly. Bit like a magician, always able to pull something out the hat.
"So that's the dedication he's shown across his whole career. He's never not been on a podium at a major meet.
"Even just his relay anchors alone. He has the most 46-second swims ever as an individual, relative to any country. Like he outswims USA in that, and the stats he can throw up are pretty insane."
As for age, McEvoy can point to his own late blooming. "I'm 32, and doing all right in my 50 metres. Did two lifetime pbs this year, actually.
"The 50 fly is now an Olympic event and Kyle's doing extremely well in it while balancing a bigger program in the 100. So he's definitely got opportunities to go into the future if he if he chooses to."
One outlandish golden scenario is that they could even be in a 4 x 50 metres freestyle relay team together if McEvoy has his way and persuades World Aquatics to back having a splash 'n dash relay added to their roster.
"It'd be cool to have a 4x50 in the Olympics and world championships," said McEvoy.
But he's realistic about the future, too. The tough thing is we've got some gun juniors coming through. Jamie Jack's already here, Flynn (Southam) too. They're already both swimming very low 20s in the 50.
"So it's not going to be an easy road, but I'd definitely love a lane in Brisbane. If there's a 4x50 freestyle there, it will make it a bit easier..."
