Ariarne Titmus reveals unexpected damage in Paris pool
You wouldn’t expect swimming to be a bruising sport but Ariarne Titmus was hiding a secret under her suit in Paris.
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You wouldn’t expect swimming to be a bruising sport but Ariarne Titmus was hiding a secret under her suit in Paris.
The 23-year-old is returning to Australia with two gold medals and two silver medals in a campaign that included eight races in eight days — and that doesn’t include the countless hours training and preparing.
Titmus showed one unexpected sign the toll it has taken on her body when appearing on Channel 9 on Sunday morning, revealing some bruises on her quad muscles.
She was asked to explain the marks.
“So our togs are so tight that they just leave marks when you are pinching yourself to pull them on, and then a few [of the] lower ones are from rolling out the lane ropes and getting out of the pool,” Titmus said.
“You get a bit dinged up when you’re racing but they’ll go away.”
Titmus opened up to reporters about her exhaustion when speaking after her silver-medal swim against American legend Katie Ledecky on Sunday morning (AEST).
It was Titmus’ second silver. She picked up gold in the women’s 400m and women’s 4x200m freestyle relay — and a silver behind Mollie O’Callaghan in the 200m freestyle.
She has done it all with grace — and she hid plenty until her final swim of the Games.
When asked about her 800m swim — where she turned in a personal best — she said: “This is the toughest week of racing you can possibly do. I’ve been feeling it the back end of this week, and I gave it everything.
“I said to myself I wouldn’t sleep at night if I felt like I left anything out there, so I’m so proud of my efforts.”
When asked about the physical and mental toll of her campaign she said: “I knew what to expect physically and emotionally coming into this from learning from last Olympics.
“Emotionally, this week, I had so much expectation on me the past few years to go back-to-back and continue my winning streak internationally, the 400m especially.
“You kind of put that in a little box and put it in the corner and don’t really recognise it. I am so good at putting that pressure in a little pile and using it to my advantage to race, but then when it’s off your back, somehow that creeps out and just explodes, and I’m feeling the most unbelievable sense of relief now that I’m done.
“I’m so proud of my efforts this week. Two gold, two silver. Couldn’t defend my 200m, but certainly happy that it was my training partner that won and to be second to her is great. I’m just so happy with my weekend. I can’t wait for a big rest.”
She was urged to take a break from the sport by James Magnussen in his latest column for News Corp.
She has earned it.
“I am buggered. So proud of my effort tonight, my first PB of the week, I haven’t had a PB in the 800m since the last Olympics so I am stoked with that and proud of the way I put myself out there and took it to Katie,” she said.
“She is just a champ and I have the most respect for her out of any athlete I’ve ever competed against.”
Originally published as Ariarne Titmus reveals unexpected damage in Paris pool
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