Three Olympics
Charlton was selected for the Australian team for the 1924 Summer Olympics and travelled to Paris by sea with his coach, Tom Adriann, who was also appointed the team coach. On the way, Adriann suffered a nervous breakdown, and threw himself overboard. Even though Adriann was rescued, he was left in London while the team travelled to Paris without a coach.
Then, while in Paris, Charlton competed in his first event, the 1500 m freestyle. He won both his heat and his semi-final, qualifying for the final, where he lined up against Borg and Beaurepaire. In the final, Borg immediately claimed the lead and maintained it until the 300 m mark, when Charlton moved alongside him. Charlton forged ahead to lead by 5 metres at the 600 m, before proceeding to defeat Borg by 40 m, while lapping the remainder of the field to win gold in a new world record time of 20m 6.6s. In the 400 m freestyle, Charlton again lined up against Borg, and also Johnny Weissmuller of the United States. Charlton progressed to the final, finishing second to Weissmuller in both his heat and semi-final. In the final, Charlton, the distance specialist, trailed far behind as Borg and Weissmuller contested the lead. Charlton was eight metres behind at the 150 m mark, before making his move. However, he left it too late and finished a metre behind the leaders, finishing with the bronze medal. Charlton then combined with Ernest Henry, Moss Christie and Beaurepaire to claim silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay behind the United States. Although Charlton had claimed the lead from the Americans in the second leg, the two following Australians were overwhelmed, losing by nine seconds, with the Americans setting another world record.
After the games, Charlton declared that swimming would take a back seat to his study and work career, and declined offers to tour the United States and Europe. However, he still managed to win the 200 m, 400m and 800 m events at the Tailteann Games. He resumed studies at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, but did not graduate and subsequently became a station-hand at Kurrumbede station in Gunnedah, in western New South Wales. Charlton limited his training to irregular visits to Sydney, when he consulted his coach, former Olympic medallist Henry Hay.
After a two-year absence from competition, he returned to the New South Wales Championships in 1927, setting a world record of 10m 32s in the 880 yd (800 m) on his return. He was again victorious in the 440 yd (400 m) in an Australian record time of 4m 59.8s. Charlton again returned to his inland job in Gunnedah before returning to Sydney the following year to secure qualification for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam by winning the 440 yd (400 m) New South Wales Championships.
In Amsterdam, in the 1500 m, Charlton finished second behind Borg in his heat, before trailing Buster Crabbe home in the semifinal. Borg went on to set a new Olympic record to defeat Charlton by 15 m. In the 400 m, Charlton again finished second in both his heat and semifinal. He again claimed the silver medal, finishing behind Argentina's Alberto Zorrilla.
After shelving his swimming career on his return to Australia for four years, Charlton again broke the Australian record in both the 440 and 880 yd (800 m) freestyle events at the 1932 New South Wales Championships to gain selection for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the oldest member of the team at 25 years of age. He contracted influenza a fortnight before the Games after arriving in the United States. Charlton raised hopes that he had recovered when he won his heat, but then only managed third place in the semifinal, although he still managed to progress to the final of the 400 m freestyle. Charlton finished in a distant sixth, some ten seconds behind the winner. In the 1500 m event, Charlton finished second in his heat, before coming fifth in his semifinal, resulting in his elimination.
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