Ariarne Titmus, one of the world’s best swimmers, did not go to the world championships after she had won a world record for it. She had even beaten Katie Ledecky, who had dominated swimming for years, just because she “didn’t feel like going.” Why?
Titmus had been interested in swimming since she was very young, and she even started racing at a local swim club at the age of seven. She made progress very quickly throughout the years, but she faced a problem. Where Titmus lived, there weren’t the swimming facilities or the coaches she needed to become an elite swimmer. So, her family decided to relocate her to Brisbane, Australia.
As she learned, she slowly caught up with Katie Ledecky. Titmus’s coach,
Boxall, stated, “…When we first came together, Arnie was 38 seconds off Katie in the 800-meter freestyle, she was 16 seconds off Katie in the 400 and she was eight seconds off Katie in the 200…We never even thought about the Olympics. We were just getting on that journey and making sure she was getting better and better.”
Titmus won her first major medal at the 2017 World Championships and had beaten Ledecky in a 400-meter two years later. She continued to win three of the five individual finals with Ledecky, but Ledecky didn’t acknowledge Titmus when she had won.
To the people who might have suspected hostility, Titmus said,
“…as a person, I seriously respect her. I know what it’s taken to get to this level, and she’s been at this level since I was 12 years old. I respect the work that she’s put into swimming. She’s changed female swimming.” Even though there could have been competition with her biggest rival, Ledecky, Titmus was still absent in the most significant international swim contest of the year.
Most swimmers would have been defending their world title against Ledecky, but Titmus is not like other swimmers.
Titmus simply decided she didn’t need to be there. She stated, “I just really wanted to think about the long term…and I really don’t care — it doesn’t bother me that I’m not going to be in the headlines or the media or the spotlight when the world championships are on. That’s not why I swim. I swim because I love it and I want to perform on the biggest stage, which for me is the Olympic Games.”
Titmus had been interested in swimming since she was very young, and she even started racing at a local swim club at the age of seven. She made progress very quickly throughout the years, but she faced a problem. Where Titmus lived, there weren’t the swimming facilities or the coaches she needed to become an elite swimmer. So, her family decided to relocate her to Brisbane, Australia.
As she learned, she slowly caught up with Katie Ledecky. Titmus’s coach,
Boxall, stated, “…When we first came together, Arnie was 38 seconds off Katie in the 800-meter freestyle, she was 16 seconds off Katie in the 400 and she was eight seconds off Katie in the 200…We never even thought about the Olympics. We were just getting on that journey and making sure she was getting better and better.”
Titmus won her first major medal at the 2017 World Championships and had beaten Ledecky in a 400-meter two years later. She continued to win three of the five individual finals with Ledecky, but Ledecky didn’t acknowledge Titmus when she had won.
To the people who might have suspected hostility, Titmus said,
“…as a person, I seriously respect her. I know what it’s taken to get to this level, and she’s been at this level since I was 12 years old. I respect the work that she’s put into swimming. She’s changed female swimming.” Even though there could have been competition with her biggest rival, Ledecky, Titmus was still absent in the most significant international swim contest of the year.
Most swimmers would have been defending their world title against Ledecky, but Titmus is not like other swimmers.
Titmus simply decided she didn’t need to be there. She stated, “I just really wanted to think about the long term…and I really don’t care — it doesn’t bother me that I’m not going to be in the headlines or the media or the spotlight when the world championships are on. That’s not why I swim. I swim because I love it and I want to perform on the biggest stage, which for me is the Olympic Games.”
