Ariarne Titmus breaks world record in the women’s 200m freestyle swimming

With the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris approximately six weeks away, a World Record was set in the women’s 200 metre freestyle swimming event on Wednesday. At the Australian Swimming Trials at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Ariarne Titmus of Launceston, Australia posted a time of 1:52.23.

What was remarkable about this race was the fact that Titmus and silver medalist Mollie O’Callaghan of Logan, Australia both broke the world record. O’Callaghan had a second place time of 1:52.48. The previous world record was set by O’Callaghan at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan with a time of 1:52.85.

Titmus and O’Callaghan were by far the most dominant Australian swimmers in the event. The bronze medalist was Lani Pallister of Sydney, who was over three seconds slower than Titmus. Pallister had a third place time of 1:55.57.

Titmus’s Other World Records

Titmus has two other world records to her name. She also set the World Record in the women’s 400 metre freestyle swimming event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships with a time of 3:55.38, and was part of the Australian team that set the world record in the women’s 4×200 metre freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. Titmus and O’Callaghan were joined by Shayna Jack of Brisbane and Brianne Throssell of Subiaco. The quartet had a time of 7:37.50.

Excellent Olympic Games

Titmus won four medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. She placed first in the women’s 200 metre and 400 metre freestyle. Titmus also won a silver medal in the women’s 800 metre freestyle, and was part of the Australian team that won the bronze medal in the women’s 4×200 metre freestyle.

Third World Record in 2024

Titmus is one of three swimmers to set a World Record during the 2024 calendar year. The other two are Zhanle Pan of China, who had a time of 46.80 seconds at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar on February 11, and Summer McIntosh of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who had a time of 4:24.38 in the women’s 400 metre individual medley at the 2024 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in Toronto.