Ariarne Titmus registers second-fastest women’s 400m freestyle in history

Ariarne Titmus has qualified for her maiden Olympic Games, and the Aussie fired a massive warning shot at her biggest rival in the process.

Australian swimming star Ariarne Titmus has clinched the second-fastest women’s 400m freestyle in history, firing a massive warning shot at American Katie Ledecky.

Ledecky, the world record holder, set the benchmark at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, with Titmus’ time at Sunday’s Olympic Trials in Adelaide just 0.44s behind.

Her time of 3:56.90 stunned Australian Olympic great Grant Hackett, who said: “We’d have a very nervous Katie Ledecky over in the United States right now after seeing a 3:56”.

Titmus’ time was 1.8 seconds faster than her personal best, setting a new Australian and Commonwealth record in the process.

The 20-year-old was half a body length ahead of the world record for most of the race, but the final 50m got away from her.

Titmus’ ongoing shoulder issues made the feat all the more remarkable.

SHE IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH 🙌

Ariarne Titmus sets a new Commonwealth and Australian Record in the 400m Freestyle - going under World Record pace 3:56.90 - under qualifying time!#2021AusTrialspic.twitter.com/iCckXj40pm

— Swimming Australia (@SwimmingAUS) June 13, 2021

Ariarne Titmus out on her own and on her way to swimming the second fastest time in history in the 400m freestyle. ⁦@abcnews⁩ ⁦@abcsport⁩ #tokyo2020pic.twitter.com/pTXt7cPufi

— David Mark (@davymark1) June 13, 2021

Titmus subsequently qualified for her maiden Olympic team, and the Tasmanian’s emotions got the best of her.

“This has been a long time coming, and I didn’t know what this would mean until it would happen,” Titmus said before bursting into tears.

“I made my first team the team after Rio, and it’s been five years on the team. I’ve done most things that being on the Australian team means, but the one thing I hadn’t done was become an Olympian. I remember watching Steph Rice win three gold in Beijing, and that was the year that I started training in a squad, and to think that that’s going to happen and I’m going to be an Olympian, it’s really exciting.

“I honestly didn’t think I could go that fast. The way I’ve been training, I would have been happy to get to my PB and hope I could squeeze a little bit more out in Tokyo. It goes to show the adrenaline, the pressure and what it brings.

“That world record is outstanding. To be close to that this close to the Olympics, I’m very excited.”

Ariarne Titmus competes in the women's 400m freestyle final.

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Two years ago, Titmus bettered Ledecky in this 400m event at the 2019 FINA World Championships, becoming the first woman to reach the wall ahead of the American in a distance event at a major international competition.

“She’s not going to have it all her own way. I can’t control what she does, if I do the best I can and put myself in the position to win a gold medal, it’s going to be a tough race,” Titmus said.

“I feel like the Olympics is not going to be all America’s way – there are other countries coming through, we’ll be in the mix, we have a pretty strong team.”

Tamsin Cook also qualified for the Olympic team, finishing second in the 400m freestyle with a commendable time of 4:04.10.

Earlier, Kaylee McKeown broke the 100m backstroke world record with a sizzling time of 57.45.

The 19-year-old broke the record set by America’s Regan Smith in 2019.

— with Matthew Sullivan & Andrew McMurtry