“Most Satisfying Win”: After Beating Katie Ledecky to the Punch Australian Swimmer and Reigning Olympic Champion Opens Up About Breaking Her Own Record

The world of swimming has been abuzz with news of broken records. The World Aquatics Championships are underway in Fukuoka, Japan. The global stage has brought some exciting surprises for sports fans. It started when the Frenchman Leon Marchand smashed Michael Phelps’ world record in the men’s 400m freestyle. In the women’s category, all eyes were on America’s Katie Ledecky to bring home the accolades. However, someone else surprisingly took the cake in the women’s 400m.

Ariarne Titmus from Australia went down in history books, and not only because she managed to defeat Katie Ledecky to take the gold medal in the women’s 400m freestyle. The 22-year-old Australian Olympic champion reclaimed her world record in the category after getting a time of under 3:56 in the women’s 400m freestyle. Ariarne Titmus beat Katie Ledecky to the punch, who clinched the silver in second place.

Reigning Olympic champion smashes world record

Ariarne Titmus was up against swimming giants. Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh were both ready to make waves with their performances. However, Titmus had other plans. Earlier, there had been some naysayers doubting that the Australian would be able to make a comeback as the queen of the 400m. Ultimately, Titmus proved her opponents wrong—and how! The 22-year-old Olympic champion clocked an impressive 3:55.38 to become the first woman to delve under the 3:56 threshold in this event.

Both Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Ritrmus have held the 400m record sometime in the past. The most recent world record was held by Summer McIntosh who managed to punch in a time of 3:56.08 at the Canadian Trials in March. Now, Titmus has broken McIntosh’s record and lowered the time even further. Summer McIntosh had taken the record baton from Titmus. The Australian champion had set the standard at the 2022 Australian Championships with a 3:56.40. A year before that, Titmus achieved a time of 3:56.69 and grabbed the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

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Katie Ledecky was not far behind Ariarne Titmus and roared back from being well behind at the 250m mark with a time of 3:58.73 for the silver. Third place was captured by New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather. She got a time sub-4:00 and attained a personal best of 3:59.59. The 16-year-old prodigy Summer McIntosh was left off the podium after she scored 4th place with a time of 3:59.94. According to an interview published by Swim Swam, Titmus called the win “probably my most satisfying win” of her career.

Ariarne Titmus on defeating Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh

This is not the first time that the Australians have given the Americans a taste of defeat. Two summers ago, Ariarne Titmus handed Katie Ledecky her first loss at the finals of the Tokyo Olympics. Regarding the most recent win, Titmus said, “I mean, I’ve got a ‘fearless’ tattoo on my foot, so I can see that before I dive. I try to swim like that little girl I was first up against, Katie (Ledecky). I was never afraid to take it to her.” Despite admitting she had not been prepared the best for the meet, Titmus revealed the motivation that ultimately got her the win over the American sensation.

She said, “The only way to win is to take it out, to see who had the most fight and who had the most gas left in the tank. I am happy that it worked.” Titmus was also glad to have amazing competitors in Ledecky and McIntosh. She praised the progress that women had made in the sport of swimming and said, “…I’m glad that we could put on a show and that women’s sport is really getting hyped up. I feel really blessed to be part of it.” As for Katie Ledecky, even though she could not get the gold, she said she couldn’t “really complain” about her performance. It seems like the American took her win-loss situation in stride.

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