Ariarne Titmus swims personal best in 200m freestyle to secure Commonwealth Games spot

ARIARNE Titmus has become the first able-bodied swimmer to book a place on the team for the Commonwealth Games, taking down Commonwealth record-holder Emma McKeon in the 200m freestyle.

Ariarne Titmus after winning the 200m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games trials on Wednesday night.

ARIARNE Titmus has become the first able-bodied swimmer to book a place on the team for the Commonwealth Games, taking down Commonwealth record-holder Emma McKeon in the 200m freestyle.

Titmus swam a personal best 1min 55.76sec to beat McKeon (1:56.57) and Leah Neale (1:56.86) to set herself up for a strong week with her pet 400m and 800m freestyle events still to come.

Titmus raced through the opening 100m in close to a personal best time and raced away from the field but in a sign she is set to bring her best at these championships was not totally content with her efforts.

“I don’t think too much about it,” Titmus said of beating McKeon.

“It’s just the selection trials and I want to try and swim faster at the Games.

Ariarne Titmus after winning the 200m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games trials on Wednesday night.

“(The first 50m) wasn’t actually what I wanted to do but it’s still a PB, so it’s fine.”

Titmus has her best events later in the program, so was happy to have swum her way on to the team last night.

“The pressure’s off, I’ve made the team so I’m really excited,” she said.

“Training for the 400m, I knew I had to get a bit more speed to go faster, so that’s helped the 200m and I’ve had a bit of success in it and I’ve targeted the race a bit more, so I’m excited.”

McKeon raced through the mixed zone after her race to prepare for the 200m butterfly later in the night.

But with her place on the team now booked, she can swim relaxed for the remainder of the meet.

Mitch Larkin made it an early double for the St Peters Western squad, taking the 100m backstroke in 53.17s ahead of Bradley Woodward and Ben Treffers, who both missed the B qualifier and will have to rely on other events to make the Games team.

But Larkin sealed his place, after coach Dean Boxall told him to trust in the work he had done coming into the meet.

“The plan is to build my swims from here and then Comm Games and now I can officially say that,” Larkin said.

“I was flying in warm-up tonight and (Boxall) just said, ‘you’re on, just trust it’.

“there’s things I’d like to work on but we’ll go from there.”

Sunshine Coast’s Taylor McKeown won the 200m breaststroke but missed the A qualifier and while she will be on the Games team, was disappointed with the time.

Originally published as Ariarne Titmus swims personal best in 200m freestyle to secure Commonwealth Games spot