At the Australian Olympic swimming trials in Brisbane, Ariarne Titmus achieved a world record in the women’s 200-meter freestyle event. She finished with a time of 1 minute, 52.23 seconds in the final, beating Mollie O’Callaghan’s previous world record of 1:52.85 set at the world championships the previous year. Titmus, who is the Olympic champion in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle events, now holds the world records in both events.
Titmus expressed her excitement at setting a world record but emphasized that it was not her main goal. She was thrilled to have finally achieved a swim that she knew she was capable of and was proud to have done it in front of her home-town crowd. Both Titmus and O’Callaghan are coached by Dean Boxall, although they focus on different events within their training.
While Paris Olympics were just around the corner, Titmus did not have the world record on her radar. Her goal was to deliver a great swim and she knew she would have another opportunity to do so in Paris. O’Callaghan, who is only 20 years old, admitted to experiencing pre-race anxiety as the previous record holder in the event.
In the final, Titmus and O’Callaghan finished significantly ahead of other swimmers in a strong field. Lani Pallister placed third followed by Brianna Throssell in fourth and a tie for fifth between Shayna Jack and Jamie Perkins. The top six swimmers are likely to make up Australia’s 4×200 freestyle relay team in Paris
