Her first major outing of 2011 was at the World Cross Country Championships and she came 31st overall. A personal best came at the 2011 Prague Marathon, where her time of 2:34:47 hours brought her fifth place. Kalmer ran in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and finished in 31st place with a time of 2:38:16 hours. The Yokohama Women's Marathon in November saw her further improve her times as she dipped under the two-and-a-half-hour mark, coming fifth in 2:29:59 hours. She was the pacemaker at the Nagoya Women's Marathon in March 2012 and led the women to the halfway mark with her second best ever time for the distance. A comfortable win over that distance followed at the Two Oceans Half Marathon. She won the Gifu Half Marathon in a course record in May. Having been chosen for the South African team, she placed 35th in the Women's Olympic marathon.