Chalmers secured his spot in the medal race by winning his semi-final in Paris on Tuesday night.

The Australian clocked 47.58 seconds – the exact time he posted to win gold in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

China’s world record holder Pan Zhanle was quickest through the semis in 47.21 after paying tribute to Chalmers pre-race.

“Pan, the Chinese boy, straight before we walked out said: ‘You’re my idol and I love, love, love watching you’,” Chalmers said.

“So that was kind of crazy.

“Probably their first Olympic experience is almost my gold medal in Rio so to be inspiring this next generation of 100 freestylers and still being able to match them a little bit is is nice.”

Chalmers’ influence on the global freestylers is evident by many adopting his trademark tactic of storming last laps.

“The 100 freestyle has definitely changed since I started doing that,” he said.

“A lot of those guys start to swim that way now so I know that there’s a lot of good guys with back-ends that match mine now.

“So it’s going to be a race as soon as we dive off the blocks and I’m just really excited to be in my third Olympic final in that event.”

Pan holds the world record – 46.80 – and Chalmers has never broken the 47-second barrier.

But the Australian dismissed times as largely irrelevant in deciding the gold medal.

“It’s proven over the first three nights of competition (in Paris) that it’s whoever gets a hand on the wall first and that’s what is remembered in history,” Chalmers said,

“Maybe swimming fans remember times but the average punter just remembers who won the gold medal or who won medals, so that’s all that matters to me.”