Ariarne Titmus exclusive on her rivalry with Katie Ledecky that is empowering women
In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, the Australian reveals her pride in changing the swimming landscape alongside Katie Ledecky, and how she hopes to inspire other children from 'real small towns'.
Swimming
At the start of the century, swimming's top rivalry was between Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Grant Hackett. After that, all eyes were on Michael Phelps versus Ryan Lochte.
But in the run-up to Tokyo 2020, that baton was passed to Katie Ledecky versus Ariarne Titmus - representing swimming’s two powerhouse nations in the U.S. and Australia respectively.
Titmus was particularly animated that a now iconic female rivalry has taken centre stage for the past two Olympic cycles and counting.
*“*I think it's so exciting. And it goes to show any little girl at home that they can jump into sport. Trying hard, dreaming big, doing whatever they want to do. In Australia, our women in sport are tearing it up, we're killing it. And I feel so proud to be a part of that at the moment. Hopefully it inspires any little girl anywhere around the world to get into sport if they love it.”
Katie Ledecky of Team USA and Ariarne Titmus of Australia celebrate after the Women's 800m Freestyle Final at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The duo kept close tabs on each other’s times for almost a decade, keen to take a psychological advantage into the biggest meets.
Despite this constant pressure, both swimmers believe that having such a close rival has spurred them on individually to reach even greater heights.
The results speak for themselves. Titmus was the victor over silver medallist Ledecky in the 400m freestyle at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, while the U.S. swimmer reversed those results over 800m. Both athletes own two long course World Records.
*“*It's so fun, and it's an absolute privilege to push her and she pushes me every day. I think we've made each other better because of it.” Titmus told Olympics.com of her rivalry with Ledecky.
“The 800 final [in Paris] was such a fun race to be a part of. I really took it to her and challenged her, and I'm so proud of my efforts in that. She's remarkable.”
How Ariarne Titmus bounced back from an unexpected health issue
The Paris 2024 Olympics were particularly demanding for Titmus for several reasons.
For starters, after taking Tokyo 2020 by storm with two golds, a silver and a bronze, and setting the 400m free World Record in 2022, there were huge expectations for the Tasmanian to deliver again.
This would be no easy feat, with Ledecky more driven than ever to recapture the Olympic title in the latter event.
However, Titmus’ participation in the French capital was suddenly thrown into doubt when she discovered benign tumours on an ovary during a routine MRI scan on a sore hip in August 2023.
Three weeks later she went in for a successful surgery and shared that story with the world to ‘turn it into a positive thing’, with many people drawing inspiration from it.
Had the problem been found any later, the recovery time may not have been enough, ruling her out of defending those Olympic titles.
“Yeah, it was really challenging. It was a fine line between trying to worry about me as a person and me as a swimmer, and get back into training as quick as I could. But, I'm proud of how I handled it, and I'm past all of that now, and I think it probably made me a better athlete in the end.”
Showing her class and grit, Titmus returned to shatter the 200m free World Record at the Australian Olympic Trials and swam a full schedule of four events at the impressive La Defense Arena in Paris.
The Australian took home medals in every event, including defending her 400m free title, gold in the women’s 4x200 free relay with an Olympic record-breaking time, and silver in the 200m and 800m free.
While she looked a picture of calm on the starting blocks each time, the reality was somewhat different. Even a swimmer of Titmus’ experience is not impervious to anxious feelings when swimming at a Games, with so much on the line.
“The nerves come up when you're in competition mode? They’re the most nervous points in swimming. When you feel those pre-race butterflies and jitters, and even once you're in the water racing, it takes a while for them to dwindle away,” she said.
“Swimming in multiple finals is definitely the toughest part. I think it's one thing to back up physically, but I think emotionally is the hardest part to try and forget about what happened and then move on to the next thing and go again. But you learn to deal with it. And, I'm really pleased with how I handled it in Paris.”
Titmus’ meteoric rise in swimming is inspirational not only to young girls, but anyone from a small town with dreams of competing on a bigger stage.
Coming from Launceston, a city of just 90,000 people in Tasmania to the south of mainland Australia, opportunities may have been fewer, but that would never hold this aquatic prodigy back.
“Despite coming from real small town down the bottom of Australia I made it in the big smoke. I took my swimming up to Brisbane and just really worked hard and dreamt big.
“And it goes to show, it doesn't matter where you come from, or who you are. If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything fabulous.” - Ariarne Titmus to Olympics.com
A 400m freestyle hat trick at LA 2028?
The dreams continue for Titmus too.
Still just 23 years old, she could return to the Olympics at LA 2028 and go for a hat-trick of 400m freestyle titles.
With Ledecky only being 27, we may be treated to another epic instalment of this Olympic swimming rivalry.
*“*I'm definitely going to enjoy this week [post Paris 2024] as much as I can. I can't really think about the future too much now. It's overwhelming off of the past week, but, I'm sure I'll be back in the pool.”