By: Jessie Sha

On Saturday, in Melbourne, Australia, the women’s 400-meter final will be held, but the world’s best swimmer isn’t going to be there. Ariane Titmus, the world record holder, and the best swimmer in the world has decided not to go to worlds. Her reason why? She claims that she doesn’t need to be there. “I just really wanted to think about the long term,” she said. “And I really don’t care — it doesn’t bother me that I’m not going to be in the headlines or the media or the spotlight when the world championships are on. That’s not why I swim. I swim because I love it and I want to perform on the biggest stage, which for me is the Olympic Games.” Many people think that this is a very bold decision.

In 2019 at worlds, she upset Ledecky, a 15-time world champion, by winning gold that year. She started swimming at the Olympics when she turned 20 years old. She earned bronze with her freestyle relay team. Then, during the Tokyo Olympics, she boosted her reputation by beating Ledecky (a winner of gold 7 times) to win gold in 200- and 400-meter freestyle. These are only her accomplishments so far, and we are waiting to see the rivalry at 2024’s Olympics.