Coach explodes as Titmus sets world record and obliterates 400m rivals

Ariarne Titmus has stunned the swimming world, smoking one of the greatest 400m freestyle fields ever assembled to the delight of her coach.

Dean Boxall explodes as Ariarne Titmus smokes the field. Picture: AFP

Ariarne Titmus has obliterated one of the greatest fields ever assembled to reclaim her 400m freestyle world record in the most emphatic fashion.

All eyes were on Titmus on the opening night of the world swimming championships in Japan as she took on American legend Katie Ledecky and Canadian teen sensation Summer McIntosh in a clash billed as the race of the century.

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Titmus broke Ledecky’s longstanding world record last year, only for McIntosh to break it at the Canadian trials earlier this year. And it took another world record to win the world title.

Titmus went out hard and led at the halfway mark, only to extend her lead at the 300m turn before leaving Ledecky and McIntosh in her wake as she touched the wall in a mindblogging time of 3:55.38.

The Olympic champion becomes the first swimmer to ever go under the 3:56 barrier and shaved a huge seven tenths of a second off McIntosh’s record.

Ariarne Titmus oblierated the world record. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Ledecky finished two seconds adrift of Titmus in 3:58.73 and New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather was third in 3:59.59. McIntosh missed the podium, finishing fourth in 3:59.94.

Titmus’ coach Dean Boxall went absolutely berserk on pool deck, recreating his iconic celebration from the Tokyo Olympics as he gyrated against a railing like only he can.

Dean Boxall with his patented "I'm gonna rip this railing out of the ground" celebration pic.twitter.com/zDQEJMZEPZ

— Kyle Sockwell (@kylesockwell) July 23, 2023

Speaking post race, Titmus told Channel 9 “this victory is my most satisfying”.

“I was just really excited for this race,” she said.

“I’ve put in a lot of work the last six weeks and I took a lot away from trials. I swam the way I wanted to. I

“ knew I had enough time to turn that around. And I came in tonight and just tried to be fearless and race again and it paid off.

Ariarne Titmus didn’t just beat them, she broke them. The ultimate racer. Just destroyed Katie Ledecky & rising teen WR holder Summer McIntosh. Won by 3 seconds & breaks WR. Incredible swim.

— Todd Balym (@balymt) July 23, 2023

That's incredible from Titmus, she's a megastar. Awesome.

— Nathan Templeton (@nathantemp7) July 23, 2023

“Summer and Katie are class acts and there’s hardly any faults in their racing so I knew the only way to take the win was to take it out and have the most fight in the end and whoever had the best left in the tank was going to grab the wall. I just had to really go for it.

“I feel like this victory is my most satisfying. So this is great.”

Titmus made Katie Ledecky look mortal. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Earlier, Australia’s Sam Short won the men’s 400m freestyle to continue Australia’s rich history in the middle distance event.

Short was the man to beat in lane 4 in the final, which became a two-horse ace at the halfway mark between the Aussie and Tunisia’s Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui.

The pair went stroke for stroke down the last 100m but Short just got his hand on the wall first to claim his maiden world title in a red-hot time of 3:40.86, just 0.02 ahead of Hafnaoui.

Short became the fourth fastest in the history of the 400m freestyle, behind only Paul Biedermann, Ian Thorpe and Sun Yang.

Australia’s Elijah Winnington finished seventh in a time of 3:44.26.

It’s the first time Australia has won both the men’s and women’s 400m freestyle at a world championships.

Australia claimed four gold medals in total on day one, capping off their most successful day in world swimming championships history.

Jack Cartwright, Kai Taylor, Flynn Southam and Kyle Chalmers won the 4x100m freestyle relay. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The all-conquering Aussie women shattered their own 4x100m freestyle relay world record in a time of 3:27.96.

Mollie O’Callaghan, Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and Emma McKeon each averaged an astonishing split time of 51.99.

The gold rush continued when Kyle Chalmers anchored the Aussie men to victory in the 4x100m freestyle relay ahead of Italy and the United States.

Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam and Kai Taylor all broke 48 seconds, while Chalmers split a blistering 46.5sec.

It’s the first time since 2011 Australia’s men have won the 4x100m freestyle relay at the world championships.