Two champions, one coach, one goal: Inside the O’Callaghan-Titmus rivalry

For the best part of two years, nearly everything Mollie O’Callaghan has touched has turned to gold.

She has been a dominant force in world swimming, winning gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games and at world championships in Hungary (2022) and Japan (2023).

At the world championships last year in Fukuoka, O’Callaghan broke the longest-standing individual world record in women’s swimming, Italian Federica Pellegrini’s 200m freestyle mark that had been untouched for 14 years.

There have been too many medal podiums, and too many smiles, to remember for the Queenslander.

Last month, however, that all changed when – despite lowering her own world record – O’Callaghan finished second behind teammate Ariarne Titmus at Australia’s Olympic trials in the 200m freestyle.

Minutes later, away from the television cameras, the emotion proved too much for O’Callaghan and she burst into tears.

To make matters worse it had been her own coach, Dean Boxall, who had guided the swimmer in the next lane, Titmus, to victory.

O’Callaghan had made the move in 2019 to the St Peters Western Swim Club in Brisbane to train under the storied Boxall, whose public profile soared when television cameras captured him wildly celebrating Titmus’ famous 400m freestyle win over Katie Ledecky at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

After Tokyo, Boxall was certain O’Callaghan had what it took to beat Titmus in three years’ time in Paris. She did it in two.

Then came the Olympic trials in June when Titmus turned the tables and now the pair will square off again in the 200m freestyle, with heats starting in Paris on Sunday morning.

Boxall’s role is fascinating given he is coaching two swimmers at the very top of their sport to win the same gold medal. Before races, he will sit with each of them separately in a quiet place – although there is no set order in which this happens – to explain exactly what he wants them to do to beat the other.

Ariarne Titmus celebrates with Mollie O’Callaghan after both qualified for the women’s 200m freestyle under world-record time.Credit: Getty Images

It is a unique situation and one that means this is a race in which the Australians are genuinely hoping to take out the gold and silver medals, something that hasn’t happened since Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett won gold and silver in the men’s 400m freestyle at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

“People always say, ‘Oh, how does that work?’ We actually have different race plans,” O’Callaghan told this masthead. “Dean wants us both to win, no matter what. He gives us race plans to win. He uses our strengths in that race plan. He’s really the mastermind behind it. He’s probably the person to ask about it. I just follow his lead.

“I have to do what he says, because I trust him. He’s produced so many amazing swimmers and has really showed what we’re all capable of. I really respect him.”

Boxall is used to dividing his attention among his charges – he has 10 swimmers on the Australian team at these Olympics, making him one of the busiest coaches at the París La Défense Arena across nine nights of action.

He knows how to get the best out of both Titmus and O’Callaghan takes different approaches for each swimmer and each situation. Some days he will be frank and direct. Others he will put an arm around a shoulder.

Titmus and O’Callaghan are rivals and, as such, are not the best of friends. They are civil towards each other but do not spend time with each other away from the pool. In team photoshoots, they are rarely next to each other. They are competitive people and both are chasing the same glory on the biggest stage after lifetimes of hard work.

And it is in the 200m freestyle where their rivalry finds its focus, with both particularly determined to win, especially given that Titmus lost to O’Callaghan at the world championships last year only to reverse that result at the Olympic trials in Brisbane.

“He’s such a creative coach and knows when to embrace us. He knows when to separate us,” O’Callaghan said.

“We both do different things. We don’t all do the same event. So I’m 100, 200 freestyle and backstroke. She’s 200 and above.

“He knows when he needs to be on us and when he needs to give us a break. He can really read each person individually because we’re not the same. At the end of the day, we don’t train the same. He knows the words to really encourage that. He’ll say, ‘This works for Mollie and this works for Arnie’.

“The bond that we have is very strong, It’s quite hard to break. It’s amazing to see a coach that’s very individualised.”

Former Australian swimmer Giaan Rooney, a 200m freestyle world champion in 2001, lauded Boxall’s ability to manage both stars.

“That speaks to the absolute excellence that is Dean Boxall,” Rooney said. “For him to be able to spend time with each of them separately, with two very different pep talks, is a credit to him and it’s why he is so exceptional. He can individualise every single athlete’s pep talk and knows what they need.”

O’Callaghan was on Australia’s Olympic team in Tokyo and picked up two relay gold medals but was only a heat swimmer. Given her performances, there was some controversy around not picking her for the 4x200m freestyle final – Australia should have won gold but settled for a bronze – but she will be a key figure if the Dolphins are to beat the US on an Olympic swimming medal tally for the first time since Melbourne 1956.

The 20-year-old is entered in the 100m and 200m freestyle events and could feasibly leave Paris with four gold medals, given her relay commitments, if things go to plan

“No matter the outcome, I’m happy with it,” O’Callaghan said.

The biggest hurdle for O’Callaghan to overcome in Paris will be nerves. It is no secret she gets more anxious than anyone on the Australian team before a race.The pressure of an Olympics will be like no other, considering she is going in as a massive gold medal chance in two individual events.

“Everyone knows I’m a nervous racer,” O’Callaghan said. “You walk out and it’s quite daunting seeing everyone in the crowd and just seeing the pool there. So you get kind of taken aback. Once you hop on the blocks, you kind of just go into that natural state of flow and you go back to the work that you normally do.

“Once I dive in, it’s pretty much gone and I just go into autopilot.”

Four-time Olympian Cate Campbell, who is in Paris, believes O’Callaghan will be able to handle the occasion.

“You can see that she is nervous but once she steps behind the blocks she has this tenacity and this grit to get through,” Campbell, an Allianz ambassador, told this masthead. “I think that it’s a testament to all the training that she does.” Rooney says the 200m freestyle will be one of the races of the Games and is backing Titmus to win given her impressive victory at trials, where she shaved 0.62 seconds off O’Callaghan’s world record.

“For my money, Arnie goes in as the favourite,” Rooney said. “She swims best when she’s angry, almost, or threatened.

“But the Olympics is not necessarily about the fastest athlete in the pool. It does not matter if you’re the world record holder in that race. The Olympics is about who deals with the pressure and the enormity of it all.”

News, results and expert analysis from the Olympics sent daily throughout the Games. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.