The day a goofy girl from Lonnie conquered the Parisian pool – and sealed a golden legacy

Paris: Ariarne Titmus wants you to know she’s still the same old goofy Tassie girl out here living out her dream.

A goofy girl with three gold medals, that is. And perhaps more to come.

Three years ago in Tokyo, a 20-year-old Titmus was the new kid on the block with unbridled enthusiasm, smiling without a worry in the world.

“I’m definitely good at handling the pressure, but I’ve definitely felt it.”

Titmus

But now the pressure of greatness weighs heavily on her mind. Even if her commanding performance to win the women’s 400m freestyle on the opening of swimming at the Paris Games didn’t show it.

After the race, Titmus described the pressure in the lead-up to the ‘race of the century’ as having a ‘big monkey’ on her back.Credit: Getty Images

“I probably felt the pressure for this race more than anything in my life, to be honest,” Titmus said, having dismissed her two great rivals, Canada’s Summer McIntosh and American Katie Ledecky in a contest billed as the “race of the century”.

“And I’m definitely good at handling the pressure, but I’ve definitely felt it. The Olympics is different. It’s not like anything else. It’s not about how fast you go. It’s about getting your hand on the wall first. So I’m really happy to have done that tonight.”

Titmus admitted a tinge of disappointment at her Paris winning time over the longer distance, three minutes 57.49 seconds, some 2.08 seconds outside her global benchmark.

“It’s probably not the time I thought I was capable of,” she said. “But living in the [athletes] village ... makes it hard to perform, it’s definitely not made for high performance. It’s about who can keep it together in the mind at an Olympics and come out on top.”

Winners: Emma McKeon, Meg Harris, Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan celebrate their gold-winning performance.Credit: AP

In more than a century of Olympic success in the pool, Australia has rarely had a night like this. Two gold and two silver from four finals. The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team won its fourth straight gold at the Olympics. Its most senior member, Emma McKeon, won a record sixth gold medal, surpassing Ian Thorpe’s five.

“Everybody’s happy in Disneyland.”

Elijah Winnington

The crowd at the La Defense Arena in Paris – stacked with boxing kangaroos and green and gold shirts – was deafening. One of Europe’s largest indoor arenas, which has undergone a metamorphosis to house two 50-metre pools at its centre, allows for more than 17,000 people to watch the swimming events. Over four nights in May, pop star Taylor Swift played 180,000 spectators. It’s hard to comprehend that being any louder.

Shy and unassuming, McKeon hardly seemed fazed about her record accomplishment. Thorpe, broadcasting on Nine, seemed more excited than she did.

“I don’t keep track of that kind of stuff,” she said when informed by a journalist of her latest accomplishment. “Everyone wants to be part of this 4x100m, I feel really honoured to be part of it.

“It’s definitely been a rough couple of years, especially this year. So I definitely had my doubts. I just really wanted to be part of this team.”

Kyle Chalmers produced a brilliant final leg of the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle to win silver for Australia, while Elijah Winnington stormed home in the final lap to claim the 400m freestyle silver. He relaxed by thinking of his favourite ride at Disneyland (Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom).

What could be more relaxing than Disneyland’s Space Mountain?Credit: Alamy

“Everybody’s happy in Disneyland,” he said.

But it was Titmus, in the first high-profile swimming showdown of the Games, that shone brightest, in a battle between the past three world record holders in her pet event. Even her coach, Dean Boxall, whose nervous sideline antics won him fame at Tokyo, remained much cooler this time around.

She led wire to wire and touched first in 3:57.49. McIntosh won silver in 3:58.37. Ledecky, a giant of the sport, took bronze in 4:00.86. For both Ledecky and McKeon, it was Olympic medal number 11. It places them one behind the sport’s all-time Olympic record of 12 shared by the US trio of Jenny Thompson, Dana Torres and Natalie Coughlin.

“And here I am, from little old Lonnie, a town of 90,000, and I’m out here living the dream, so I hope that inspired kids back home.”

Titmus

“It’s a little bit more emotional, this one, than the first one,” said Titmus.

“I know what it feels like to be an Olympic champion. It’s a different feeling. I know how hard it is racing in these circumstances, at an Olympic Games. The noise, atmosphere, pressure.”

Ledecky is widely regarded as among the greatest swimmers of all time. McIntosh not long ago was tipped as her heir. But Titmus, over this distance at least, has their measure. Another battle with Ledecky looms over 800m in Paris. It is a mouthwatering prospect.

Ariarne Titmus (left) and Katie Ledecky (right).Credit: Getty Images

This rivalry is fierce but it is not bitter. Ledecky was the first to congratulate her after the race.

“I definitely don’t see my rivalry with her or anything, but racing, I really respect her as a person, and I look up to her with what she’s done and the longevity in the sport,” Titmus said.

“And here I am, from little old Lonnie [Launceston], a town of 90,000, and I’m out here living the dream, so I hope that inspired kids back home.

“I hope it goes to show anyone can do what they want to do if they work hard and believe in themselves.”

Titmus, with her victory on Saturday night in Paris, elevated to the rarest of air in Australian Olympic history.

The 23-year-old joins the legendary Dawn Fraser as the only Australian women to successfully defend Olympic titles.

Fraser won the 100m freestyle at three consecutive Games from 1956.
“I can’t really believe that’s me,” Titmus said of keeping Fraser company.

Titmus’ latest triumph – defeating her rivals, Ledecky and McIntosh, was super-sweet.

“It’s fun racing the best in the world, it gets the best out of me,” Titmus said.
“I hope with all the hype, we’ve lived up to expectations.”

But pundits expected a contest. Instead, they witnessed a Titmus master-class, leading from start to finish and never seriously threatened.

“I felt pretty good the whole way,” she said. “I left everything out there, I gave it everything I could.”

Titmus is also the reigning 200m freestyle Olympic champion and starts that title defence on Sunday.

She is also the freestyle world record holder over both 200m and 400m.

Australia’s “golden girls” is an old and oft-used cliché from newspaper headline writers that goes back to the 1956 Olympics. But clichés exist for a reason and that’s usually because they’re true. On a breathtaking opening day of competition for Australia, it was once again the women who led the way.

It began with Grace Brown, a former runner who grew up in Camperdown in southwestern Victoria, who claimed Australia’s first gold medal since Sara Carrigan won the women’s road race at the 2004 Olympics.

Brown had already decided she would retire from competitive cycling at the end of the season, according to her parents, who were beside the course watching on their phones as she crossed the finish line at Pont Alexandre III.

“Just to make Australia proud, winning the first gold medal for our nation, setting the medal table on its way,” she said, as she stood in the drizzle. “I hope I inspire the other athletes to push their limits and go after similar results.”

All this on just day one. But you get the feeling this team is only just getting started.

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