Older, happier Ariarne Titmus will take on the world in 2022 with a smile

An older, wiser, and more balanced Ariarne Titmus is looking to take the swimming world by storm once more in 2022.

Following the performance of a lifetime at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, the double Olympic gold medallist, still only 21, has rediscovered her love for the sport.

“I honestly think my well being outside of swimming is why I’m loving it so much. Before the Olympics, I was swimming, swimming, swimming and more swimming. I still am in a way but I know I need balance in life,” Titmus told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“That is something that’s definitely shifted. I’m still prioritising swimming but I don’t think that getting a coffee with my friend on a Wednesday is going to ruin tomorrow.

“I’m just in a different headspace.”

To understand Titmus’ fresh perspective, one must first understand the level of pressure on her young shoulders going into the Tokyo Games.

It all started at the FINA 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, where she became the first person in six years to beat the mighty Katie Ledecky in the 400 free.

The American may have been slightly feeling under the weather at the meet, but that detail mattered not to Australia and its media.

As far as they were concerned, their nation’s team had found its saviour, and Titmus would be the one to turn the fortunes around of a floundering swimming superpower. No pressure, right?

But the Tasmanian was up to the challenge. She kept distractions and media to a minimum, devoting every waking second to her mission. Titmus was a swimming machine.

The plan worked, and “The Terminator” became an overnight hero Down Under when she secured gold in both the 200 and 400 freestyle in Japan.

“I don’t think (the pressure) was ever fully recognised,” she continued.

“I would say I would compare Katie to Michael Phelps. I believe she’s the greatest female swimmer to have walked the earth and to be in the same conversation as her, even that is such an honour. But I don’t think many people really grasp what it took.”

Understandably, Swimming Australia went into the 2022 season realising that their prized asset would have to manage her workload in order to stay successful.

In April it was announced that Titmus, and fellow Aussie Olympic champions Emma McKeon and Kyle Chalmers would forgo the 2022 World Championships.

The talented trio will focus instead on qualifying for the 2022 Commonwealth games in the UK starting in July, and the exciting Duel in the Pool against the USA in August.

The star-studded 2022 Australian Swimming Championships from 17-22 May will serve as the trials for both events.

One thing that hasn’t changed for Titmus, however, is her coach Dean Boxall - whose celebrations after Titmus became an Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 went viral.

Boxall played a key part in the swimmer’s success through his famously grueling training schedule.

As such, he knows better than anyone what the swimmer is capable of, and sees a more independent athlete now.

“I don’t know if the maturity was there (at Tokyo 2020) but she still had to be zoned in at times. Now, after Tokyo, that’s just different. She’s different, she’s grown up.”

With a smile on her face and a more balanced approach to swimming, it’s likely that the best is still to come for Ariarne Titmus.