New photo adds stunning twist in Mack Horton-Sun Yang controversy

Kyle Chalmers has seemingly gone against the grain in shaking Sun Yang’s hand at the world swimming championships.

After Mack Horton caused controversy by refusing to take the podium or shake the hand of Sun on Sunday, compatriot Mitch Larkin said Horton had the full support of the entire Aussie team.

"I think 100 per cent of the Aussie athletes certainly back Mack up and I was saying before that while he was standing alone on the podium last night, he’s not standing alone in spirit," Larkin said.

"Ninety nine per cent of the athletes here support what he does.

“We are all fighting for a clean sport and you have to trust that the performance that you do and the training that you do is enough to get you across the line."

However it appears as though Chalmers might be in the one per cent.

After competing alongside Sun in the semi-finals of the 200m freestyle on Monday, Chalmers reached over the lane rope and shook the controversial Chinese star’s hand.

"It's Mack's decision to do that sort of stuff," Chalmers said afterwards, according to Wide World of Sports.

"At the end of the day, Sun is here, Sun is racing and we just have to do what we can to swim our best races.

“I'm not worried about my competitors, I'm worried about my own race and learning how to swim the 200m.

"Mack has done a few of those things now and he strongly believes in that, and that's totally fine."

FINA takes action against Horton

Swimming Australia and Horton will receive an official warning letter from FINA, the governing body releasing a statement on Monday night condemning Horton’s actions.

"The FINA executive met today in Gwangju to analyse the situation related with the men's 400m free victory ceremony and has decided to send a warning letter to Swimming Australia and to Mack Horton," the statement said.

"While FINA respects the principle of freedom of speech, it has to be conducted in the right context.

"As in all major sports organisations, our athletes and their entourages are aware of their responsibilities to respect FINA regulations and not use FINA events to make personal statements or gestures.

"The matter over which Mack Horton was allegedly protesting is currently under review by CAS and therefore it is not appropriate for FINA to prejudice this hearing by commenting further."

Horton snubbed Sun, who served a 2014 doping ban, after the triple Olympic champion was allowed to compete ahead of a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing in September that may end the Chinese star's career.

The 10-time world champion has been accused of smashing vials of his blood with a hammer during a clash last year with testers and faces a lifetime ban if found guilty.

Athletes village ‘erupted’ after Horton protest

Horton's actions polarised the public but American breaststroke champion Lilly King revealed the Australian received a standing ovation at the athletes' village for refusing to acknowledge Sun on Sunday night.

"We were kind of waiting around for that awards ceremony to see what was going to happen and yeah it was awesome," two-time Olympic gold medallist King said.

"When we walked into the dining hall, he walked in after us and like the whole dining hall erupted in applause so it was pretty great to see the athletes united on his stance and supporting him as well.

"I don't think anyone at FINA's going to stand up for the athletes so the athletes have to stand up for themselves."

Sun - who claimed a fourth straight 400m world title - wasn't so impressed, saying Horton's stance was disrespectful to China.

"It was unfortunate because disrespecting me is okay but disrespecting China was very unfortunate and I felt sorry about that," he said.

The Australian team supported Horton's stance but claimed they had no prior knowledge of the protest.

"That was his idea to do that. But let's put it this way, I understand him very much," Dolphins head coach Jacco Verhaeren said.

Horton's bitter rivalry erupted at the Rio Olympics when he dismissed Sun as a "drug cheat" before upsetting the Chinese star to claim a shock 400m freestyle gold.

with AAP