Paris 2024, Oceania Recap: Ariarne Titmus Closes Out Olympics With Her Best Swim Of The Games

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

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• Oceania Recap, Day 1: Chalmers On ‘King Kyle’ Form After Tough Run Up to Paris
• Oceania Recap, Day 3: Mollie O’Callaghan Goes From Prelims-Only Relay Swimmer to Olympic Champ in Three Years
• Oceania Recap, Day 4: Kaylee McKeown Becomes 2nd Woman to Defend Olympic Gold In 100 Backstroke
• Oceanian Recap, Day 5: Kyle Chalmers Joins Rare Air By Medalling In Third Straight Olympic 100 Freestyle
• Oceanian Recap, Day 6: New Zealand Women Make Their First Olympic Relay Final
• Oceanian Recap, Day 7: Kaylee McKeown Is The First Female Backstroker To Complete the Olympic Double-Double

The following article is the opinion of the Author and does not necessarily represent the views of other SwimSwam staff or SwimSwam itself.

Katie Ledecky has dominated women’s distance freestyle for over a decade. She’s pushed that discipline and swimming as a sport forward because of her speed and consistency. The fact that everyone is used to the “Ledecky cam”, that moment when she’s the only swimmer in the frame and the camera must pan out to find her competitors, speaks to her supremacy. She further affirmed that tonight with her fourth-straight gold in the women’s 800 freestyle, which puts her into a tie for most Olympic gold medals in history.

Unlike her 1500 freestyle win earlier at these Games, this win was not a coronation procession for Ledecky. Ariarne Titmus, who has taken over from Ledecky as the queen of the 400 freestyle, pushed her for much of the race’s first half.

It wasn’t supposed to be that close of a race. Yes, Summer McIntosh handed Ledecky her first 800 freestyle final loss since 2010 in February, winning at the Southern Zone South Sectional World Championships (8:11.39). But McIntosh opted for the 200 IM over the 800 freestyle at these Games, which seemed to end the conversation about Ledecky losing this race in Paris.

Not for Titmus though. When she spoke with the media at Australia’s Olympic training camp in France, Titmus sounded even-keeled and controlled. When asked about the 800 freestyle, Titmus was perhaps the most open she was about her expectations for the Games in the entire interview.

“It’s an exciting race for me,” she shared. “I’m still not happy with how I’ve swum the 800 this year, I feel like my training hasn’t reflected the races that I’ve put together [in the 800 free]. I know that Katie [Ledecky] is an unbelievable 800 swimmer—the best ever—and she will certainly be a challenge to challenge in that race. But I’m going to put my best foot forward.”

Today, Craig Hummer opined on Peacock’s live-stream that one of the most impressive things about Ledecky is that she pushes other swimmers forward too, not just herself. It’s the idea that seeing Ledecky swim away is a form of motivation for the others, not resignation.

That was true for Titmus in the 400 freestyle; Ledecky was a major source of motivation for her, even during practice. The high focus on Ledecky’s world record splits drew much attention (even ire), but it worked. Titmus was the first to hand Ledecky a loss in a distance event at a major international meet, winning the 400 freestyle at the 2019 World Championships, the start of an ongoing win streak for her. She took over the world record in 2022 and after briefly losing it to McIntosh, reclaimed it with an emphatic 3:55.38 at the 2023 World Championships, a full 1.08 seconds faster than Ledecky’s best.

Titmus’ 400 freestyle speed is her major advantage when it comes to the 800 freestyle. She flexed that speed in Paris; though she didn’t near her world record, she was dominant as she became the second woman to defend Olympic gold in the 400 freestyle and the first since 1928.

In the 800 freestyle final, she used that speed, going out strong with Ledecky as the pair opened up a gap to the field. An in-state club meet is one thing, but this was something else—it’s hard to remember if anyone has ever pushed Ledecky in an international 800 freestyle the way Titmus did tonight. At the halfway point, TItmus was just .32 seconds behind Ledecky.

TItmus’ opening speed was exactly the right race strategy for her. And it had everyone watching wondering “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing? Is Titmus about to interrupt Ledecky’s four-peat?”

As it turned out, the answer was no. And Ledecky’s margin of victory is only a hundredth smaller than it was when she and Titmus went 1-2 in Tokyo. But it looked like it was closer because of the way Titmus swam it. In Tokyo, she made up the ground during the last 100 meters.

In Paris, Titmus had the front half to stay with Ledecky and the back half to hold off Paige Madden, who was having the swim of her life. Titmus touched in 8:12.29 for silver, setting a new Oceanian record and becoming the third-fastest performer in history.

Everyone pushing Ledecky is still far from her 8:04.79 world record, set at the 2016 Games. Who knows if Ledecky herself will ever approach that mark again? But it and Ledecky herself are still motivating those coming behind her, as Hummer said. Titmus echoed his thoughts after the race, saying “I said to [Ledecky] after the race that she’s made me a better athlete. I totally respect what she has done in the sport…she’s been winning this race since I was 11 years old, and I turn 24 next month. That is just remarkable. She’s unreal.”

The 800 freestyle wrapped up Titmus’ 2024 Olympics. She’s leaving Paris with two golds and two silvers. She defended her 400 freestyle gold, helped Australia to redemption in the 4×200 freestyle relay, and finished second to her teammate Mollie O’Callaghan in the 200 free, giving Australia a historic 1-2 finish.

But when I think about her Games, it’s this swim that stands out because like she did in the 400 freestyle years ago, Titmus showed that Ledecky’s pushed her competitors so far they are beginning to push her on swimming’s biggest stages.

And that’s why even with her two gold medals, this was Titmus’ most impressive swim of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Day 8 Quick Hits

• Kaylee McKeown had a tough double again this finals session. Yesterday, she pulled double duty with the 200 backstroke final and the 200 IM semifinal. Today, she had the final of the women’s 200 IM and the mixed 4×100 medley relay final. After initially touching the wall 4th in 2:08.08, which would have won 200 IM gold three years ago, McKeown was bumped up to the bronze medal after Alex Walsh was disqualified for passing vertical on her back-to-breast exchange. It’s the same infraction that got McKeown disqualified in the semifinals at the 2023 World Championships. This is McKeown’s third individual medal of the meet, going with her gold in the 100/200 backstroke. At the end of the session, she earned another bronze with Joshua Yong, Matt Temple, and Mollie O’Callaghan on the mixed medley relay. The squad swam 3:38.76, setting an Oceanian record.
• Ella Ramsay was slated to join McKeown in the women’s 200 IM final, but was a late scratch due to illness, leaving an empty lane in the final due to the timing of the scratch.
• Along with Titmus, there were two more Oceanian swimmers in the women’s 800 freestyle final, Lani Pallister and Erika Fairweather. Pallister ended up sixth in the women’s 800 freestyle final, swimming 8:21.09 while Fairweather clocked 8:23.27 for 8th. Temple finished seventh in a loaded men’s 100 butterfly final, touching in 51.10

Oceanian Medal Table Thru Day 8