Australian World Record Holder and Olympic Champion Ariarne Titmus announced her retirement this afternoon via an Instagram post.
Titmus, 25, has been one of the top swimmers in the world over the last few years. She last competed at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris where she won the 400 freestyle and finished 2nd in the 200 free and 800 free events. She also won gold as a member of the 4×200 freestyle relay that broke the Olympic Record.
She currently holds the World Record in the women’s 200 freestyle at 1:52.23 from the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials, and she is also a member of Australia’s World Record 800 freestyle relay from the 2023 World Championships which stands at 7:37.50.
In the Instagram video, Titmus discussed how she has been dealing with some health issues and how she has spent her career doing it “all or nothing”. She discussed how she has always had goals outside of swimming and how in taking time off after Paris, she discovered that these were more important to her.
She also talked about her first Olympic gold, which came at the 2020 Olympics when she won the 400 freestyle, beating World Record Holder Katie Ledecky as the “underdog”. She went on to win another gold in the women’s 200 free final in a new Olympic record time of 1:53.50 and finish 2nd in the 800 free final.
“My life is restarting at 25 years old.” She said she wants to give back to younger athletes in the sport who might not have the best resources and she mentioned that she enjoyed the broadcasting experiences she has had, and that could be a potential path for her.
In her Instagram caption she said “Dear seven year old Ariarne, Today you retire from competitive swimming… The dreams you had…they all came true.”
She will retire as a four-time Olympic champion and four 0ime World champion. She also has three Olympic silver medals, two World Championship silver medals, one Olympic bronze, and three World Championships bronze medals.
This is a very classy and dignified way in which to announce one’s retirement. She is leaving on her own terms and in total fulfillment of her sport. Wishing Ariarne the best!♡
I just read a story that Giaan Rooney ‘advised’ Arnie about moving into a media role.
I hope her advice was ‘unlike me do some actual research before commentating’…
I wish she’d kept her advice to herself a little while longer
Disappointed and surprised. Was an entertaining swimmer and was looking forward to seeing more of her. Hope she’s happier now, all the best.
A lot of people surprised and asking “why” regarding Titmus’ retirement, but isn’t the real reason out there in plain sight? Putting aside the many public relations reasons given for Titmus’ retirement (boyfriend, health, supposedly “nothing left to accomplish in the sport”), her father’s statements (a pretty reputable source) and the photo of her on the Paris 800 Free podium after another loss to Ledecky seem to reveal the true story–she did not want to keep losing.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/father-lifts-lid-on-unseen-ariarne-titmus-moment-after-final-race-that-led-to-retirement-call-234344398.html
Bottom line is she won five intl medal races on her own in her entire LCM career. No appetite for losing to Ledecky/MOC again (and possibly McIntosh/Pallister).
Where did you get any of this out of the story you posted??
“Did not want to keep losing.”
She became the best 400 freestyler in the world in 2019 and then never lost again in the event at a meet people care about,
She got beaten in her second and third best events by athletes who it was their best event.
I’m sure she had some reasons for retiring that the comments section would take issue with (who cares), but she definitely didn’t experience much losing for it to be because of that.
Not sure Titmus’ swimming would have fared as well (and her competition might have been faster) had most of the meets she participated in not been held so proximate to Australia. Look at the struggle McIntosh had in the 400m Free in Fukuoka, while Fairweather of NZ did okay. Ledecky beat Titmus badly in 400m SCM ISL event in their lone USA match-up. Titmus never swam World Cups in the Western Hemisphere. The next three big meets being in Irvine, Budapest (from which Titmus also skipped a World Champs once), and Los Angeles had to play an unstated role in Titmus’ decision-making.
Titmus did carefully select the meets she appeared in- and it worked for her.
……..oops
So you’re suggesting McIntosh was jet lagged only for the 400? Because the rest of her performances were great. Let’s be real: finishing off the podium in the 400 was 100% mental and had nothing to do with the timezone.
Flights to Asia are 8-10 hours from Australia.
And to Paris are 24 hours (2 flights).
And Birmingham is also 24 hours (2022).
(I’m not sure you know where Australia is on the map).
Yes I know Asian time zones are closer to Australian time zones but most big teams arrive weeks earlier to adjust.
Titmus would have done just as well wherever she swam. You are absolutely wrong if you think otherwise.
Even when retiring you can’t escape the idiots who try to make stuff up to discredit anyone that isn’t their favourite.
She has the 3 fastest 200 free flying splits in history, 2 of which took place in Europe.
Her 200 free winning time in Tokyo was faster than the textile best of anyone else in existence. It’s still faster than anyone except MOC.
Her 400 free winning time in Tokyo was the second fastest performance of all time at the time.
Her 400 free winning time in Fukuoka was the world record.
Sorry but you are just a ridiculous person if you think “time zone” had any impact on her success.
Ledecky’s PBs in all 4 of her events… Read more »
Rio is the same time as Florida so 4 of Ledecky’s Olympic golds don’t actually count lol
Even giving up 4 golds, Ledecky would have more Olympic gold than Titmus. 😂 And btw, Rio not in same time time zone as Florida, but you have a good sense of humor at least.
The last truly big meet was in Paris, Titmus won gold beating Ledecky & McIntosh & Silver on losing to O’Callaghan, silver only losing to Ledecky & swam the fastest split in the 4×200 winning team.
Here’s a question…women who have 3 individual medals at more than 1 Olympic Games? Ledecky, Titmus and ???
and Inge de Bruijn… I see a ‘downvoter’ has rampaged through the thread!
Nice attempt at false equivalency regarding swimmers with completely different career arcs.
Can you explain? It is just a statistical curiosity…it is hardly sinister.
Facts don’t lie
People like you do
Everyone here forgetting Kaylee, the real superstar of the Aus Swim Team.
As someone, who was looking forward to her coming back and kicking everyone’s ass again, I’m disappointed, but not really surprised. She has sounded like she had one foot out of the door since Tokyo. I guess when you pursue a singular goal for years, sacrificing a lot in the process, it’s hard to find the motivation to continue once that goal has been achieved. Kudos to her for going out on her own terms. Not everybody gets to do that.
Still, those 200 and 400 free races won’t ever be the same.
Yeah, that last point resonates with me. The 200, 400 and relays won’t be the same and it would have been incredible to see how much further they could’ve been pushed with Arnie still there. Her 800 was improving as well. It’s the sort of feeling of “I wish they were racing here” that you get when you watch tennis without Federer for example
Titmus is a legend.
Olympic gold medals, World Championship gold medals and breaking World Records. She’s done it all Sounds like she just got tired of the grind to stay on top, Wishing you the best of luck in your super bright future. I don’t blame her for hanging up her swim suit.
The Titmus “has done it all” and “legend” assertions are a bit lame. Titmus was very attuned to break-taking and selective swimming, and she is now a 25-yo swim retiree who rode the hype of swimming against Ledecky and McIntosh and her eccentric (she calls him “crazy” in her video) coach’s hump-a-rail reactions. In her swimming career, Titmus won just five individual Olympic and LCM World Champs races in 5 combined int’l meets. By comparison, Ledecky has won 26 Olympic and World Championship individual races while breaking WRs 17 times (once at age 28), McIntosh at just age 19 has already more than doubled up Titmus with 11 golds. McKeown has won 10 indiv gold while also setting WRs. McKeon… Read more »
She rode the hype of swimming against amazing competitors and beat them in the 400 every time? That’s pretty legendary.
She didn’t go to 2022 World Championships because it was put on the schedule at the last minute and she had aimed for the Comm games.
That’s it. That’s all she missed. Unless you count her not going to short course worlds which the goat Ledecky never goes to either. (Titmus did break a WR in 2018 at world short course though. )
Yes she was never going to win as many Gold as Ledecky or McIntosh. But the competition in Titmus’ events was incredibly tough. Don’t discount her achievements.
every year from 2022-2024, her season bests were a wr, near wr and a pb. that’s pretty consistent, considering several other swimmers have broken through internationally with an olympic gold, only to fall off immediately afterwards and never reach those same heights again
it’s interesting that your comparisons place such an emphasis on individual results, but suddenly consider relays when talking about total olympic medals by an australian. amongst individual olympic medalists from australia, titmus has more medals than any other swimmer. when ranking by medal colour, she’s 2nd outright only behind mckeown. in terms of legacy, that olympic medal count speaks for itself.
Next time you break world records and win five Olympic gold medals, please let me know! BTW, I never called her a legend, but she was one heck of a great swimmer. Her accomplishments speak for themselves.
Ok…
Titmus isn’t as great as McIntosh, Ledecky or Kaylee.
So what?