Ariarne Titmus Reflects On Her 'Most Satisfying Win,' Plus More Day 1 Quotes From Worlds
2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Ariarne Titmus said the only way to beat Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky in Sunday’s 400-meter freestyle final was to “take it out, to see who had the most fight, and who had the most gas left in the tank.” The gung-ho strategy paid off as the 22-year-old Aussie triumphed in a new world record of 3:55.38, which she called “probably my most satisfying win.”
That’s saying a lot considering Titmus has already collected some huge victories throughout her career, including handing Ledecky her first loss in an individual Olympic final two summers ago in Tokyo. She admitted that her preparation wasn’t “the most perfect” coming into this meet, but the key in this star-studded showdown was swimming “really free and fearless.”
“I think it’s about trusting yourself,” 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. 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.
“I was really excited for this race coming in tonight — I haven’t really raced the best in the world since the Olympics,” she added. “I mean, Katie (Ledecky) and Summer (McIntosh) always put up a great fight and 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.”
Ledecky said she “can’t really complain” about her silver-medal performance in 3:58.73, while New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather dipped under four minutes for the first time (3:59.59) and kept McIntosh off the podium with a surprise bronze.
“I didn’t expect to be in that position with Summer (McIntosh) in my sights,” Fairweather said. “But I have a pretty strong last 50. I think those three (Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh) are phenomenal swimmers and I knew that there was always going to be a massive battle there. To fly under the radar and to stay with them was good and kind of took the pressure off a little bit.”
It was a huge night for the Aussies, who added gold medals in the men’s 400 free (Sam Short, 3:40.68) as well as both 4×100 freestyle relays. The Aussie women demolished their own world record by nearly two seconds while the men claimed their first world title in the event since 2011. After bringing his team back from 3rd place on the final leg with a 46.56 anchor, Kyle Chalmers characterized the race as “probably one of our proudest moments ever in Australian swimming history.”
“For us to be able to stand on top of the podium tonight, the first time since Shanghai in 2011 — I’ve spent a lot of time with those guys that won in Shanghai and they talked so highly of that moment and that feeling,” said Chalmers, who took silver in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay last year and bronze in 2019. “I think it was Matt Abood that was the anchor of that leg and I remember talking to him about him watching the race and his mouth drying out and the same thing happened to me tonight watching the race. We’ve got this amazing team coming through and I know that next year is going to be very special. Every time we race we want to win, especially in a relay, and we did that tonight.”
Jack Cartwright added that it was “good getting on top of the podium just like the girls do every year.”
Last but certainly not least, there were fireworks in the men’s 400 IM with 21-year-old Frenchman Leon Marchand taking down the longest-standing world record belonging to Michael Phelps from the 2008 Olympics. Marchand reached the wall in 4:02.50 to shave 1.34 seconds off Phelps’ previous global standard.
Marchand referred to the effort as “one of the most painful things I did,” but he rejoiced that “this time is crazy” and “the best is yet to come.”
21-year-old American Carson Foster seemed content with his silver medal as well as having “a front row seat” to witnessing history by Marchand.
“Obviously the goal is always to win and Leon’s a great competitor,” Foster said. “I’m lucky that I get to set my goals high, to try and win. Out there, being the closest person to history, was pretty cool getting a front row seat.”
After the race, the podium finishers were awarded medals by none other than Phelps himself. It was Foster’s first time meeting the most decorated Olympian of all time.
“That was really cool,” Foster said. “I told (Phelps) he was my idol growing up. He was the one that kind of made me get into swimming. I remember 2008, I wasn’t that into swimming, but my parents made us sit down and watch every race he swam. So that was my first time ever meeting him actually. So that was really cool.”
Source: SwimSwam
