After enjoying a brief stint in the commentary booth, two-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus is back in the pool as she prepares to once again stare down arch-rival Katie Ledecky in the 2024 Paris Games.
Titmus won gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle in Tokyo in 2021, but it was her win over Ledecky in the 400m that will go down as one of the most cherished moments in Australian Olympic history, given the American’s standing as a great of the sport.
When she renews her Olympic duel with Ledecky in the Paris Games, which begin in late July, Australian viewers will be watching the action with a new host broadcaster after the International Olympic Committee confirmed on Wednesday that Nine Entertainment Co had won the hosting rights from Seven.
Nine, owners of this masthead, will broadcast the next three Summer Olympics – Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). It will be the first time the network has shown the Olympics since the 2012 London Games.
Titmus enjoyed her first foray into commentary with Channel Nine during the World Shortcourse Championships in December in Melbourne.
Ariarne Titmus has a big 2023 ahead of her. Credit:Getty
“It’s definitely a lot trickier than it looks,” she said. “I learnt a lot working with the team down there. You have a producer in your ear saying, ‘Hey Arnie, in two minutes we’re coming to you to talk about the men’s 100 freestyle’. I had to have all my notes sorted and a lot in my head ready to go. You do have to be well-rehearsed and well-researched.”
But Titmus has no plans on a switch to commentary just yet. At 22, her career is only just getting started and her sights are set on the World Aquatics Championships in Japan in July before she embarks on her second Olympic campaign.
“I feel like, until the beginning of this year, everything was still related back to Tokyo and what happened there,” Titmus told the Herald and The Age. “Now we’re in 2023 … the mindset has switched to Paris. You have to forget what happened in the past … it’s a fresh start.
Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky.Credit:Getty Images
“Since Tokyo, I’ve been very busy outside the pool. This year I am truly ready to completely prioritise swimming again. I know that’s what I have to do if I want to go to the Olympics and defend my titles. It’s going to be even tougher going to the Olympics as the defending champion. It’s a big job to go back-to-back and not many people do it. That’s why I’ve had to put everything on the backburner and just put my head down at training.”
As the old saying goes, pressure is a privilege, and Titmus knows there will be plenty of it as she goes head-to-head again with Ledecky and rising Canadian star Summer McIntosh.
“It’s going to be a whole new level of pressure,” she said. “Although there was a massive build-up to my race with Katie, I think I was still the underdog. I was going there as a first-time Olympian and Katie was the world record holder. Now as a well-known face around our country and people expecting me to perform … that’s going to be different.
“If I want to win, I’m going to have to learn to deal with pressure. It’s one thing to get to the top but it’s even harder to stay there.”
Titmus’s win over Ledecky was also memorable for what happened outside the pool, with footage of her coach, Dean Boxall, going viral as he celebrated his young charge’s victory.
Titmus said Boxall had been uncharacteristically relaxed recently but expected that to change in the coming months.
“Once we come into the middle of the year, he’s warned me that he’s going to hit psychotic mode,” Titmus said. “He’s going to ramp it up and the pressure will be on. I can’t step a foot out of place.
“That’s the way it has to be if I want to win. We know that approach works – for him to put that amount of pressure on me at training. I’m making the most of it now while he’s a bit of a cool cucumber.”
By the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, Titmus could be back behind the microphone for Channel Nine, as a legend of her sport. Unless, at 31, she is still racing?
“I would love to race at a home Olympics,” Titmus said. “If I was a sprinter, I think it would be much easier. Given the races I do, it’s a lot more demanding on my shoulders to keep swimming for another 10 years.
“I haven’t ruled it out. Never say never, but I would say that if I make it to Brisbane, that would well and truly be my last.”
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