The future has arrived.

With both his performance and his words, that was the message from Flynn Southam to Kyle Chalmers — and the rest of the world — after the upstart toppled the legend in the men’s 100m freestyle final at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday morning (WA time).

WATCH THE FULL RACE IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

Southam is in the pinkest of form in Glasgow. The 21-year-old made his intentions clear by setting the Games record at the distance with a blistering first 47.09sec first leg for Australia’s victorious men’s 4x100m freestyle team on their opening day.

But in the eyes of many, the 28-year-old Chalmers remained the favourite for what is swimming’s marquee event at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

Of course, he had an Olympic Games gold medal and another two silvers to his credit at the distance. He was also the defending Commonwealth Games champion in the event and started from lane four after progressing through the semifinals in the fastest time.

But that proved to count for nothing in a thrilling decider, with the WA-born Southam powering home to claim the gold medal in 47.13 before bronze medallist Chalmers touched the wall at the 47.74 mark, not having enough in reserve to hold off Wales’ Matt Richards.

While Chalmers claimed gold in the event in Birmingham in 2022, Southam did not even compete individually at the distance, instead being made to make do with three relay gold medals.

The emerging superstar was not boastful after his victory, but his self-belief and charisma were clear to see.

“It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?” Southam told Seven.

“(It was a) super high-pressure race. I had a lot of people doubting me, and I was doubting myself at some points, but at the end of the day, I back myself in a race, and that was a bloody good one.

“I can believe it, because I’ve worked bloody hard for it.

“Four years ago, I was a little boy. Now, I am a man. I belong here and I’m here to stay.”

Southam’s gold medal was one of another five won by the Dolphins on the day as they tied their Games record of 28 from the Gold Coast eight years ago, even with another 10 finals still to come.

Lani Pallister and Jenna Forrester continued dominant showings in Scotland, with the former setting a Games record of 8:11.12 in the women’s 800m freestyle and the latter storming home to win the women’s 200m individual medley in 2:09.24.

Our mixed 4x100m medley team of Iona Anderson, Sam Williamson, Matthew Temple and Meg Harris continued a clean sweep of the relay events and even claimed another record with a 3:40.46 performance, and Kiralee Harris (27.63) was way too good for the field in the women’s 50m freestyle S13.

WA’s Anderson added a women’s 50m backstroke silver medal to the 100m gold she won yesterday, with her time of 27.45sec pipped by Canadian veteran Kylie Masse in the final.

There was as much attention on the semifinals as there was on the deciders over the course of the evening, and our Australians did what they had to do to set up potential clean sweeps of the podium in the men’s 50m butterfly and women’s 50m freestyle.

Chalmers will compete alongside Ben Armbuster — who he tied as the quickest through the semifinals with a 22.82 performance — and Cam McEvoy tomorrow, and is dreaming of standing alongside them on the dais.

“Tonight was the first time I’ve stood on the podium with another Australian throughout my swimming career, so if I was able to do that tomorrow night, that would be really cool,” he said.

“I’m super proud of the longevity I’ve been able to have in my sport.”

Meanwhile, Shayna Jack ensured she will have one last individual swim before her retirement, in which she will have to overcome a white-hot duo Meg Harris and Alex Perkins.

Jack said: “No matter what happens tomorrow, I’m really proud of everything I’ve achieved in my career”.

“This what it’s all about. We train so hard, we are so harsh on ourselves as athletes — this is the fun part, so I’m here to have fun, soak it all up.”