‘Needing a big break’: Ariarne Titmus reveals post Paris plans as health scare forces her to reassess

Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus says she has ‘unfinished business’ on the world’s biggest stage as she comes back from a major health scare less than a year ago.

In another case of life imitating art, Ariarne Titmus is back baby, preparing to play the starring role in a blockbuster sequel that could be even better than the original.

With two gold, one silver and a bronze medal from the last Olympics in Tokyo, ‘Arnie’ (a nickname she inherited from Hollywood film star Arnold Schwarzenegger) has already set an impossibly high watermark for success.

But the 23-year-old is on a mission to better that performance at the upcoming Paris Olympics after a health scare forced her to confront her own mortality and reassess her priorities.

Less than a year ago, doctors discovered a benign tumour on an ovary so Titmus immediately went under the surgeon’s knife to have the cancerous growth removed.

Ariarne Titmus has made a full recovery from the removal of a tumour found on her ovary a year ago. Picture: Supplied

She’s since made a full recovery and is training the house down in preparation for the Australian Olympic trials, taking place at Brisbane’s Aquatic Centre from June 10-15, but the ordeal made her question whether her devotion to swimming was really worth it.

“My mind was kind of at tug of war for a bit there,” Titmus said.

“When all the surgery and everything happened, I was going through the process of figuring out what the growth was and my mind kind of just forgot about swimming because I was so worried about everything else.

“It put a lot of things into perspective, made me realise that there’s so much life beyond swimming.”

One of her first realisations, however, was that she just wasn’t ready to quit the sport.

Instead of turning her away from swimming, the diagnoses crystallised how fortunate she was to be an elite athlete and why she couldn’t afford to waste another precious moment.

So as soon as she was fit enough to return to the pool, Titmus dived back into her work with renewed determination to try and make Paris the grandest moment of her already stunning career.

Ariarne Titmus brought home two gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Adam Head

“It makes you realise what a short amount of time in your life and what an opportunity it is to be training for an Olympics to go there and win gold medals,” she said.

“A lot of people would dream to be in my position. A lot of people long to be Olympians and Olympic champions.

“I know I’ve worked incredibly hard for it, but I feel very grateful and lucky that I have the opportunity and I’ve been blessed with a gift to go to the Olympics and win, hopefully, gold medals for our country.”

Barring a major upset, Titmus will qualify to swim four freestyle events at Paris: 200m, 400m, 800m and the 4x200m relay.

If everything does go according to plan, Titmus will likely head to the French capital with strong expectations of more gold and a warning to her rivals that her best is yet to come, including in the 400m, her signature race, which she hasn’t been beaten in since 2018.

“Obviously I have my goals in terms of times and medal tally, but if I go to the Olympics knowing that I prepared the best possible way and I raced the best that I could on the day I will be happy,” she said.

Titmus says she has unfinished business at the Olympics. Picture: Adam Head

“But I just know within myself I have unfinished business. I don’t believe I’ve reached my peak in the sport.

“I believe I’ve got more to give and I think the Paris Olympics will be my best opportunity to hone in on that and peak.”

But that also comes with a warning to her supporters, because as soon as the Olympics end, Titmus revealed she will step away from the sport for a prolonged period, and is unsure about when she will return.

“I’m going to have a really big break. I need a mental break away from the sport and just do some things outside of swimming and learn more about myself and figure out my passions outside of swimming,” she said.

“I really want to have a break and feel ready to come back to training, really missing it.

“Retirement’s definitely not on my radar. But one thing for sure is I will be needing a big break.”