Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan’s 200 metre swim would have bettered Mark Spitz’s 1972 Olympic gold medal swim

The record-breaking 200 metres freestyle times set by Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan at the Australian trials would have beaten the then-world record time of a men’s swimming legend.

Julian Linden and Todd Balym

4 min read

June 14, 2024 - 2:00PM

Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O'Callaghan's trials swim would have beaten the time of a male Olympic legend.

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As gutted as she was to lose her 200m freestyle world record to Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan really shouldn’t beat herself up too much because it took an historic performance from her superstar team mate to beat her.

The incredible winning time Titmus posted at the Australian trials - 1:52.23 - was not only a new world record, carving 0.62 off the previous mark O’Callaghan set in winning gold at last year’s world championships.

It was also a time that would have eclipsed one of the greatest male swimmers of all time - Mark Spitz.

Before Michael Phelps came along and won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Spitz was swimming’s original alpha-male.

Racing with a moustache, the American won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics – all in world record time.

One of those wins was in the 200m freestyle, when he stopped the clock at 1:52.78 - a new world record - but still slower than what both Titmus and O’Callaghan (1:52.48) clocked at Brisbane’s Aquatic Centre.

You read that right. Australia’s golden girls Titmus and O’Callaghan would have beaten swimming’s ultimate macho man.

The king of the 1972 Olympic Games, Mark Spitz’s 200 metre freestyle time was bettered by the Aussie duo.

They did it by swimming courageously - both at the front end and back end. The pair both completed the first 100m in under 55.4 seconds, faster than the East Germans all went even with the aid of performance enhancing drugs, and rattled home the last lap in under 28.4.

Their next showdown will be in Paris - where both women are taking on massive programs.

If they swim every race they are expected to, Titmus will dive in the pool eight times and cover a total of 3.2 km, while O’Callaghan will leave the blocks 10 times for 1.4km.

They will team up just once, in the 4x200m relay which Australia is expected to win gold.

Each has their own challenges, but for Titmus her toughest race is the 800m.

While she is the defending champion in the 200m and 400m, she had to settle for silver in Tokyo behind her American rival Katie Ledecky.

“I definitely enjoy racing the 400m and the 200m more than 800m and I think enjoyment is a big part of it as well,” Titmus said.

“Enjoying the process, training for the event and enjoying the process racing the event.

“I definitely don’t enjoy it as much as the other two but I think when there’s medals on the line at the Olympics, that should be enough to get me through.”

Titmus and O'Callaghan celebrate after their historic swimsat the trials. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

The 800m has always been Titmus’ weakest event of the three she swims at the big meets.

While she’s made seismic improvements in the two shorter races - which she holds the world record in - the 16-lap race continues to frustrate her.

Her best time is 8:13.59, which is the Australian record, but Ledecky has gone quicker on more than 30 occasions and her world record of 8:04.79 is virtually untouchable.

The good thing for Titmus is the 800m is at the end of her program in Paris so she can treat it as a free hit.

“I’m excited to see when that comes in at the Olympics, what you can do with that, but at the end of the day, I did my job this week,” she said.

“I’ve got all the races I want to perform in Paris.”

Titmus is planning a social media blackout for Paris after being overwhelmed by the response to her 200m world record and wary of excessive gratitudes impacting her focus at the Olympic Games.

Titmus is going on a social media blackout ahead of the Olympics. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Titmus revealed she had deleted Instagram and other social media accounts after waking to mass messages of support.

She is not the first Australian athlete to talk about the perils of social media, with Emily Seebohm getting swept up in the same delirium during the 2012 London Olympics and Cate Campbell noting how excessive pressure from the public also impacted her mentality at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“I’ll definitely be off social media for the whole week racing in Paris,” Titmus said.

“I just think like, after last night, there’s so much noise and activity and it’s a lot to, you know, absorb and it’s just very taxing.

“So I just deleted it for the day today to just try and focus on the race tonight.

“So during the Olympics, I will definitely be off it at all times.

“But I’ll be out and about, you know, between now and then but I just think you know, it’s a lot of external pressure sometimes if you’re on it all the time.”