By: Ann Zhao
On June 17, 2022, Ariane Titmus, the only known woman who has beaten Katie Ledecky in the 200- and 400-meter freestyle swimming races, announced that she will not be participating in the World Championships, where her rival Ledecky will be racing, because, according to the New York Times, she “decided she didn’t need to be there.”
When Titmus first met her professional coach, he claimed that she “was 38 seconds off Katie in the 800-metre freestyle, …16 seconds off Katie in the 400 and…was eight seconds off Katie in the 200.” Yet pretty soon, Titmus would catch up to Ledecky.
Then, at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Titmus had finally cemented her position as one of the best female swimmers in the world. According to SwimSwam, Titmus beat Ledecky’s record time of 3:56.46 by 0.6 seconds for the women’s 400-meter freestyle.
Many people have been hoping that the two exceptional swimmers would compete directly against each other again, and the perfect chance arrived when news got out that Ledecky would be racing in the World Championships in Budapest. Numerous fans expected Titmus to participate, but, to everyone’s surprise, she declined the invitation.
As shocked as everyone may have been, expecting Titmus to participate in the race to defend her title against her rival, Titmus claimed that she doesn’t swim for fame or the spotlight. Titmus swims because she loves the sport, and wants to “perform on the biggest stage, which… is the Olympics.”
Although Titmus will be asleep in Australia while Ledecky competes in the World Championships halfway across the globe in Budapest, many still await her effort in the 2024 Summer Olympics, which will take place in Paris.
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