Ariarne Titmus recently broke the 200m freestyle world record during a thrilling race against her compatriot, Mollie O’Callaghan, at Australia’s Olympic swimming selection trials in Brisbane. Titmus, who is 23 years old, finished in an impressive time of 1 minute and 52.23 seconds, surpassing O’Callghan’s previous record of 1:52.85 set at last year’s world championships. O’Callaghan also swam exceptionally well and finished with a time of 1:52.48, making it the second-fastest time in history.
Titmus, who already holds the world records in the 200m and 400m freestyle events and is the reigning Olympic champion in both, described breaking the world record as a “bonus” from her intense competition with O’Callaghan. She expressed her happiness at being able to swim at her full potential in front of a home-town crowd, adding that she did not use O’Callaghan’s previous feat in Japan as motivation.
Despite both swimmers being coached by Dean Boxall, Titmus emphasized that their training focuses on different events and they do not closely monitor each other’s progress. She explained that she does not pay attention to who holds the world record, but rather focuses on achieving a specific time during her races. Looking ahead, Titmus mentioned that breaking the world record was not her main goal coming into the competition, and she is excited about the possibility of putting together another great swim in Paris.