Aussie swim queen Ariarne Titmus beaten by 17yo future superstar

Australia’s queen of the pool in Tokyo Ariarne Titmus was upstaged at Queensland’s state swimming championships on the weekend.

Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus has been upstaged in spectacular fashion at Queensland’s swimming championships by her 17-year-old training partner Mollie O’Callaghan.

O’Callaghan blitzed her 21-year-old rival on Sunday in the 200m freestyle, winning the opening individual final in 1min 56.51sec, the Courier Mail reported.

She touched the wall 0.85 seconds ahead of Titmus, who closed a 0.25sec gap at the closing turn, but couldn’t match O’Callaghan’s incredible 28.84sec final 50m.

Mollie O'Callaghan, shown competing in the women's 4 x 100m medley relay in Tokyo, smoked Ariarn Titmus on Sunday. Picture: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

The teen, who trains alongside Titmus with Dean Boxall, was controversially pulled from the 4x200m freestyle relay final at the Tokyo Olympics despite setting a world junior record leading off in the heats.

She told the publication she had been disappointed at first but later conceded other swimmers had more experience.

O'Callaghan was pulled from the 200m freestyle relay at the Olympics despite a world record-setting heat swim. Picture: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia via Getty Images

“I wasn’t too disappointed not swimming the finals — at first I was but I understand, I don’t have as much experience as the other girls and it was amazing to see them race and see the atmosphere and get to learn from them,” she said.

O’Callaghan did swim however in Australia’s gold medal team in the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays, and finished the Games with three medals.

Her winning streak continued Sunday night after finishing first in the 17-18 years 100m backstroke and open women’s 100m backstroke.

Ariarne Titmus recently returned from a lengthy post-Olympics spell. Picture: Giorgio Scala/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Titmus won four medals in Tokyo, including two gold. Picture: Giorgio Scala/BSR Agency/Getty Images

Titmus recently returned to training after a lengthy spell following the Olympics where she claimed gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle, silver in the 800m freestyle and bronze in the 200m relay.

She has a massive week ahead at the state titles, set to compete in every freestyle event from the 50m to the 1500m.

O’Callaghan’s winning time in the 200m was three seconds slower than Titmus’ gold medal-winning effort in Tokyo.