Ariarne Titmus
Australia’s Most Successful Swimmer
Ariarne Titmus is one of Australia's most prominent sports stars following her gold medal winning efforts at the 400m and 200m freestyle events during the Tokyo Olympics.
Ariarne made her international debut at the 2017 World Championships where she claimed a bronze medal in the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay and placed 4th in the Women’s 400m freestyle. In 2018 – at just 18 years of age – she broke her 400m freestyle PB and in the process, broke the world record at the World Short Course Championships. It was in that year that she also claimed three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.
The champion is recognised for her impressive racing ability and her grounded persona and has become a highly inspirational figure for young athletes and the Australian public alike.
In 2019, Titmus was a member of the inaugural International Swimming League, representing the Cali Condors, who finished third place in the final match in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December. Titmus won the 400-metre freestyle several times throughout the season, including the final.
Her quick rise to the top of the swimming ranks led to a showdown at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics against one of the greatest swimmers in history – American rival Katie Ledecky. The 400m freestyle battle between Titmus and Ledecky in Tokyo has been reported the as one of the greatest Olympic races & rivalries of all time.
The exhilarating performances of Ariarne Titmus at Tokyo 2020 where she beat Ledecky caused her coach Dean Boxall, the head coach at St. Peters Western, to celebrate so passionately the footage quickly went viral around the world.
Titmus won two gold medals for Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Posting a time of 3:56.69 in the 400-metre freestyle final, she edged out world record holder Ledecky by less than a second. Posting a new Olympic Record of 1:53.50 in the 200-metre freestyle final, she trailed behind Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey for most of the race then came home strong to push herself in front on the last lap.
Titmus earned a silver medal in the 800-metre freestyle final, this time finishing 1.26 seconds behind Katie Ledecky. Titmus was also part of the relay team that won bronze in the 4x200 metres women's freestyle relay, finishing behind China and the US.
In May 2022, Ariarne Titmus broke the 400m women's freestyle record at the Australian championships, posting a spectacular time of 3 minutes and 46.40 seconds. In doing so, Titmus bettered the previous benchmark set by American rival Katie Ledecky at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Ariarne is an articulate and insightful speaker and relishes in her responsibility as a role model to future generations. Ariarne is passionate about her cooking and recipe development, health and wellness, and studied exercise and sports science at QUT before deferring her studies to focus on swimming.
Ariarne is available for Q&A sessions Australia-wide