Ariarne Titmus is from Tasmanian Island, Australia. She is the 2021 Olympic champion in the 200 & 400 free.
2017 World Championships
Titmus finished 17th after the heats in the 200M free, failing to make the semifinals, with a time of 1:58.79. Titmus then finished fourth in the 400M free with a time of 4:04.26, just out of medal contention. Her time broke her own National Age Group Record she previously set at the Australian Trials. This swim is the fastest by any Australian 18 and under, and puts Titmus fourth on the all-time Australian rankings.
She swam the anchor leg, 1:56.61 of Australia’s bronze medal winning 4x200m Freestyle Relay behind teammates Madison Wilson, Emma McKeon and Kotuku Ngawati.
2018 Commonwealth Games
Titmus had a breakout 2018, as she earned 3 individual medals, 2 gold 1 silver, at the 2018 Comm games. Titmus clocked times of 4:00.93 in the 400 free (1st), 8:20.02 in the 800 free (1st), and 1:54.85 in the 200 free (2nd behind Taylor Ruck). She also anchored the Aussie 4×200 relay to victory (1:55.59).
2018 Pan Pacific Championships
Ariarne kept her momentum rolling into pan pacs, as she started things off with a tight race between Leah Smith in the 800 free, and ended up touching Smith out for the silver in 8:17.07, a huge personal best, only being beaten by Katie Ledecky’s 8:09.13. On day 2, Ariarne had a massive lead-off leg on the women’s 4×200 free relay (1:55.27) to help the Aussie women earn gold and dethrone team USA. On dy 3, Ariarne kept her tremendous meet going as she finished 2nd behind Ledecky in the 400 free with a best time and new commonwealth record of 3:59.66.
2018 Short Course World Championships
Titmus was a double gold medalist in Hangzhou, winning the 200 and 400 freestyle titles, while also swimming on the 4×200 and 4×50 free relay teams.
Titmus won the 200 freestyle in Hangzhou with an Oceanian Record time of 1:51.38. She then set a world record in the 400 free, clocking a 3:53.92, five hundredths of a second ahead of China’s Jianjiahe Wang’s 3:53.97 from October.
2018 Oceania Female Swimmer of the Year
For her huge performances at the Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacs, and Short Course World Championships, Ariarne Titmus was SwimSwam’s 2018 Oceania Female Swimmer of the Year.
ISL – Cali Condors
On June 11, 2019, Ariarne Titmus was announced as a member of the Cali Condors ISL team, headed by GM Jason Lezak.
2019 World Championships
Titmus started out her championships with a huge swim and upset, coming from behind on 3-time defending champion Katie Ledecky on the last 50 of the 400 free to touch in a time of 3:58.76 to win gold. Titmus continued her medal streak in the 200 free, winning silver behind defending champ Federica Pellegrini.
Titmus kept her momentum going in the women’s 4×200 free relay, where she led off in an Australian record of 1:54.24 and helped the Aussie’s best the Americans for the 2nd time in 2 days by a slim margin. The Australian’s time also set a new world record of 7:41.50. Titmus finished up her schedule in Gwnagju in the 800 free, where she was in a tough battle with a lot of the pack for much of the race, but uplled up on the last 100 to touch for 3rd and earn her 3rd individual medal in a time of 8:15.70, a new Oceanian record.
2019 Swammy Awards
In 2019, Australian teen distance star Ariarne Titmus accomplished something no one had accomplished before. Titmus, the 2nd fastest 400 freestyler in history, dethroned reigning Olympic Champion Katie Ledecky in the 400 free at the FINA World Championships. That made her the first woman to defeat Ledecky in a distance race (400 meters or longer) at a major international meet. For this, Titmus earned the Oceanian Female Swimmer of the Year Swammy Award.
2021 Australian Olympic Trials
While racing on day 2 of the Australian Olympic Trials, 20-year-old Titmus scorched the field with a monster mark of 3:56.90, a time that sits just .44 outside of Ledecky’s 3:56.46 WR produced at the 2016 Olympic Games.
The next day in the 200 free, Titmus made her move on the third 50, splitting 29.09 to lead at the 150 in 1:24.64. Titmus was battling the WR line with 10 meters left and would finish in 1:53.09 for a new Australian and Commonwealth record and the second fastest time in history.
2020 Olympic Games
Titmus backed up her swims from trials in a big way on night 2 in Tokyo. Swimming a very smart race, she sat on Katie Ledecky’s hip for the first 300, making her move with a 100 to go. Titmus surged the final 50 and got her hand on the wall first, earning gold in the 2nd fastest swim of all-time, 3:56.69.
Titmus was back in the 200 free, moving through the prelims and semis as first seed into the final, where she swam a similar race as the 400 free, coming from behind and passing Siobhan Haughey to touch for gold at 1:53.50.
Titmus continued her racing in the 4×200 free relay, where Australia was the heavy favorite. In the final, Titmus led off in 1:54.51, helping the Aussies to bronze and a new Oceanian record, getting under their old world record but doing it behind USA and China.
Titmus concluded her meet in the 800 free, swimming a strong race and pushing competitor Katie Ledeckt the whole way, eventually touching at 2nd in 8:13.83 for silver, her 3rd individual medal of the meet.
400m Free World Record
Ariarne Titmus was the first to beat Katie Ledecky in the 400 free at a major international meet, defeating her at the 2019 World Championships and the 2021 Olympic Games. On May 22, 2022 at the Australian Championships, she became the first to break one of Ledecky’s world records.
Titmus swam a time of 3:56.40, 0.06 seconds faster than Ledecky’s mark of 3:56.46. Ledecky set her former world record six years prior at the 2016 Olympic games.
With her swim, it made three out of the four fastest-ever times in the women’s 400 free for Titmus. She first scared the world record when she swam a time of 3:56.90 at the Olympic trials in 2021, then got even closer to it when she beat Ledecky with a time of 3:56.69 in Tokyo. In Adelaide at the World Trials, she accomplished the feat of being the quickest in history after being so close for so long.
Top 5 Performances In History, Women’s 400-Meter Freestyle:
- Ariarne Titmus – 3:56.40 (2022)
- Katie Ledecky – 3:56.46 (2016)
- Ariarne Titmus – 3:56.69 (2021)
- Ariarne Titmus – 3:56.90 (2021)
- Katie Ledecky – 3:57.37 (2021)
Titmus, well-known for her back half, ran down Ledecky during the last 100 meters the last two times she beat her. However, this time around, she was actually stronger on her first 200 meters of the race. She flipped in 1:56.99 at the 200 mark compared to Ledecky’s 1:57.11. Titmus went 1:59.41 on the last 200, while Ledecky closed in 1:59.35.
Titmus vs. Ledecky: Comparative Splits
| ARIARNE TITMUS, 2022 AUSTRALIAN TRIALS (NEW WORLD RECORD) | KATIE LEDECKY, 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES (FORMER WORLD RECORD) | |
| 50m | 27.58 |
27.73
|
| 100m | 29.55 (57.13) |
29.32 (57.05)
|
| 150m | 29.70 (1:26.83) | 29.94 (1:26.99) |
| 200m | 30.16 (1:56.99) | 30.12 (1:57.11) |
| 250m | 30.11 (2:27.10) | 30.30 (2:27.41) |
| 300m | 30.27 (2:57.37) | 30.21 (2:57.62) |
| 350m | 29.75 (3:27.12) | 29.92 (3:27.54) |
| 400m | 29.28 (3:56.40) | 28.92 (3:56.46) |
| Total | 3:56.40 | 3:56.46 |
2023 World Aquatics Championsips (Fukuoka, Japan)
Titmus was controlled through the 400 free prelims with a 4:01.39 for lane 5. In the final, she was 1st through the 100 and dominated the rest for the race with her 1:58.44 back half. Her swim was good for a massive world record by .7 seconds to bring the WR under 3:56 and steal it back from Summer McIntosh with a 3:55.38.
In the 200 free, she was relaxed in prelims with a 1:56.20 for 3rd. In semis, she was way faster with a 1:54.64 for 1st seed into the finals. There, she was out quick in 26.72, she followed that up with 2 more field-leading splits of 28.51 and 28.77 to be .38 under world record pace. Down the stretch, Titmus faded a bit and was passed by Mollie O’Callaghan who touched 1st in a new world record of 1:52.85. Titmus still managed to go a best time of 1:53.01 for silver.
On the 800 free relay, Titmus anchored in a stunning 1:52.41 to bring the Aussies to a dominant win and a massive world record. The team shaved 1.79 second off the old record the Aussies set in 2022. In the 800 free, Titmus equaled her best time with a 8:13.59 for 3rd. The time makes her the #3 performer in history as Li Bingjie surpassed her with a 8:13.31 for silver behind Katie Ledecky’s 8:08.87 for gold.
2024 Australian Olympic Trials (Brisbane, Australia)
Titmus opened the meet with the 400 free. She cruised through prelims with a 4:01.57. In the final, Titmus swam to the second fastest time all-time in the 400 freestyle posting a 3:55.44 to win the event. That was the 2nd-fastest 400 free ever swum. Compared to her World Record of 3:55.38 from 2023 Worlds, Titmus was out .4 second faster over the 1st 50 but did not come home quite as fast over the final 150 meters. Her 100 splits were: 56.53/59.92/59.78/59.21.
In the showdown of the meet, Titmus and O’Callaghan faced off in the 200 free. The two were 1-2 in prelims with Titmus clocking a 1:55.50 to O’Callaghan’s 1:55.68. In the final, the two were pedal to the metal. MOC led at the 50, a rarity, with a 26.59 to Titmus’ 26.56. Titmus took the lead on the 2nd 50 with a 28.49 to O’Callaghan’s 28.74 and never let go, splitting 28.82/28.28 versus MOC’s 28.78/28.37. Both swimmers touched well ahead of O’Callaghan’s previous World Record of 1:52.85, with Titmus taking the win in 1:52.23 and MOC touching a little back in 1:52.48.
Titmus stormed to a decisive victory in the 800 free to wrap her meet. She beat out 2nd place Lani Pallister by 4.4 seconds to win in 8:14.06. That moved her to #3 in the world and was within half a second of her PB.
