By: Bowen Wang

The stupendous swimmer Ariarne Titmus surprised global crowds when, on the opening night of the national trials, she revealed she was thinking of quitting the sport after next year’s Paris Olympics. She was only 22 at the time and had already famously beat the world record set by American Katie Ledecky. Consequently, when she announced her potential retirement, it shocked everyone.

Ariarne Elizabeth Titmus, also known as the Terminator, is a national Australian swimmer. She is the reigning Olympic champion in both the women’s 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle, and the former world record holder in the long course and short course 400-meter freestyle events. Ariarne has a once-in-a-generation talent that she has skillfully used. She has done a very good job representing her Australian team in the national races. Her coach, Dean Boxall, has taught many other swimming legends including Stephanie Rice and Leisel Jones.

Ariarne Titmus’ announcement shocked everyone. It is unclear whether she had already discussed it with her coach. She is not going to retire any time soon because she already has entered the trials for the Australian national team in the nationals in Tokyo, Japan, with a time of 3:58.47. She also admitted being disappointed with her time because she wanted to go quicker in case it ended up being one of her last races swimming for Australia.

Ariarne plans to think about potentially retiring after swimming at the Paris Olympics. She says, “I think if I went to Paris and won again, certainly there might be a motivational factor.” This means that she might not retire now, but is considering it in the future. Ariarne is already the “darling” of Australian swimming because of all her feats. She definitely will continue to help them for a few more years before she undoubtedly retires.

Ariarne Titmus’ favorite mantra is:

“Always be the best you can be”.