Perhaps the most well-founded rivalries in all of swimming history will be that of Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus. And what better litmus test for the same than Paris?

In reference to what Dean Boxall, Titmus’ long-time coach, has said in multiple interviews, there will always be mind games permeating within the rivalry between the two world-class swimmers. 

The Australian national swimming coach had it in his arsenal three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, when his mentee defeated the then-defending Olympic champion in the 400m free contest. A similar weapon was resurrected on Saturday (July 27) when Ariarne defended her title against Katie at the Paris Olympics. However, very few have been successful in guessing the presence of that war of nerves. The Australian swimming legend James Magnussen, however, was one to witness a little, yet major, detail that evening. 

The former 100m free world champion noticed Ariarne Titmus deliberately put her clothes in the lane four bucket, before stepping into the 400m free final event last week. Notably, she was to start the race in lane five, while lane four was for Katie Ledecky, as the fastest swimmer in the Heats.

Could this be part of a mind game meant to detract Katie from her game? A minute display of superiority perhaps? Magnussen recently headed to the YouTube podcast, The Run Home with Joel and Fletch, and admitted that he would count that component as a part of a meticulously crafted plot. “I saw. It was pretty funny. There are all little different mind games you can play, right?”

However, without breaking much sweat, she pointed things out to her Australian rival. Realizing her deed, the 23-year-old, in Magnussen’s words, appeared “pretty apologetic”.

But in the same breath, the veteran also mentioned that the plot could have worked as a double-edged sword.

While the situation could have dampened her resolve just before the race, another plausible option was it could “rattle both of them”. But that clearly didn’t happen.

Ariarne Titmus maintained her supremacy throughout the race. The nearest chaser, Summer McIntosh, found it difficult to match with the Launceston native. Katie remained far behind. In the end, the defending champion made it look easy, as if she had not faced a defeat in the Heat.

Later, though, the Australian addressed the pre-race controversy, saying, “Like, if anyone thinks it was on purpose, that’s not true. It was totally an honest mistake.” She also mentioned how Ledecky and she “had a bit of a laugh in the medal ceremony room”. Further, the US swimmer reportedly also said to her: ” Don’t worry, I think it’s instinctive for us to go over to lane four these days.”

On a separate note, this is not the first time underhanded tactics have marred Dean Boxall and Titmus’ name. But despite all of it, the pair have come out on the winning side. 

Whatever Ariarne Titmus does, it comes as part of a meticulous plan 

Before coming to the Tokyo Olympics,. Ariarne Titmus had already started to get a better result than Katie Ledecky in the 400m free event. Since 2018, she has yet to face a defeat in any final of the event. Furthermore, before defeating her on the Heat on Saturday, Katie had failed to see a victory against her since 2019. So technical supremacy had already been present in the four-time Olympic champion’s prowess. But her coach, Dean Boxall, has added the X-factor to it, which is the mind game.

In the Tokyo Olympics, Boxall allegedly used spies to take Katie Ledecky’s information. Those facts helped the Australian fish take her preparation to another level. It also elevated her confidence against the defending champion. 

But why would Boxall want to resort to such tactics? For that, we’ll have to delve into the rivalry the two share:

Katie Ledecky

• At the venerated 2022 FINA World Cup in November, Ledecky made sure to let her presence known with a monumental world-leading time of 7:57.42  (800m free short course) 
• In its sister concern event aka the 800m free long course, she had a whopping timing of 8:04.79, clinched during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• In the much more challenging 1500m free short course, her timing was an uber cool and effortless 15:08.24

On the other hand, when we look at Ariarne Titmus

• In the women’s short course freestyle of 400m, the Australian spark-plug set a new world record and clinched a gold medal simultaneously for a timing of 3.53.92. This also enabled her to usurp the record set by Chinese ace swimmer Wang Jianjiahe two months earlier by a mere 0.05 seconds.
• Tokyo saw her get her hands on two glimmering gold medals. In the 400m freestyle final, her timing was a sheer  3:56.69, thus effectively shutting down Katie Ledecky by less than a single second.

Notably, after Tokyo, Titmus consolidated her upper edge, as in three years, no one could come close to her except the Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh. In 2023, she replaced Ariarne’s world record in the event. But it remained short-lived as the Dolphin replaced the world record with her fresh timing of 3:55.38. This year as well, she didn’t let Katie Ledecky come closer as she set up the world-leading timing.

But, one thing’s for certain. The rivalry has certainly sharpened Ariarne Titmus further, and Paris may very well become her pièce de résistance.