Titmus The Terminator Destroys WR In 1:52.23, O’Callaghan 1:52.48 As Women’s 200 Free Pace Overtakes Top Speed Of Spitz 1972
Ariarne Titmus, Titmus The Terminator – 1:52.23: for the first time in history, the World 200m freestyle record is faster than Mark Spitz‘s Munich 1972 victory in the week the American swim to sporting immortality with seven Olympic golds.
Beaten by St Peters Western team-mate and the Olympic champion Titmus but not to be outdone by the legend of yore, 2023 World champion Mollie O’Callaghan made it two women inside the pace of Spitz at his career best, 1:52.78, in one race: 1:52.48.
The battle was blistering, 0.05 in it at the first turn, O’Callaghan with the edge, after which Titmus topped the 50m split all the way home, by 0.20, 0.16 and 0.09.
Brisbane 2024
26.64; 55.13 (28.49) 1:23.95 (28.82) 1:52.23 (28.28) Titmus WR
26.59; 55.33 (28.74) 1:24.11 (28.78) 1:52.48 (28.37) O’Callaghan
Top splits compared
27.34; 55.60 (28.26) 1:24.38 (28.78) 1:52.98 (28.60) Pellegrini 2009 WR
26.93; 55.94 (29.01) 1:24.74 (28.80) 1:52.85 (28.11) O’Callaghan Fukuoka 2023 WR
26.72; 55.23 (28.51) 1:24.00 (28.77) 1:53.01 (29.01) Titmus Fukuoka 2023
Titmus now has five of the fastest all-time top 10 200m free swims, O’Callaghan three, Australia with 8/10 (see graphics below).
They led the fastest domestic women’s 200m free race in history. Indeed, you only have to go back as far as London 2012 to find an Olympics at which the world’s best eight were slower than Australia’s top 8 at Trials today.
The Phenomenal Female Freestyle Force of coach Dean Boxall, led by Titmus and O’Callaghan, goes from strength to strength, today’s 200m final at Olympic Trials in Brisbane alive with the sound of gauntlets being thundered out to a world that’s been working to claw back the gap the Dolphins have been building between their pioneering and those chasing.
Six weeks out from the Paris Olympics ands days ahead of the start of USA Trials, the message is clear: you better be thinking bigger than you ever thought ion you want to catch a Dolphin in a woman’s bather.
O’Callaghan downed Italian Federica Pellegrini‘s shiny suits global mark of 2009 with a 1:52.85 for the World title in Fukuoka last year as the first woman in history to claim the 100-200m double at the long-course showcase since it all began in 1973. Titmus took silver.
The tables may have turned today but there were no losers Australia would be the winner whichever of these women triumphs in Paris. And look at the 4x200m relay: Lani Pallister, already on the squad for the 400m and eyeing her best events in the 800 and 1500m to come, took third in a lifetime best of 1:55.57. In fourth: Brianna Throssell, 1:55.74. Two more St Peters swimmers followed in a snap at 1:56.22.
The great sorority of speed shoaled around Titmus at the end of battle, all for one, one for all. Except one, perhaps. O’Callaghan looked wiped out. On Channel Nine Commentary, legendary 200-400 Olympic champion Ian Thorpe noted the deep disappointment on her face (at a 1:52.48) and described it as a look familiar to him and many elite swimmers who end the fastest race they ever had feeling that possibly, just possibly, “there was something more to give, something deeper in there.”
Additional report from Nicole Jeffery in Brisbane
O’Callaghan was rocked by the waves of soaring performance she thrives in. Second was ok, it seemed. Speaking after Ariarne Titmus to Nicole Jeffery and other press gathered in Brisbane Mollie said:
“I think I’ll take anything at this point. You know, I’m still learning. I’m on the younger end. I’m not as experienced as the other girls are. So I’ll take anything at this point.
How aware had she been of Arnie during the race? “My goggles were quite foggy, so I couldn’t see too much,” said O’Callaghan. “But I’ve just got to focus on myself, try new things, push myself, see what’s right and what’s wrong.
Asked if the rest would take some pressure off for Paris given that she’s no longer the hunted, she replied: “Yeah, to be honest, I think I wasn’t really out there (as the hunted), which I do appreciate it a lot. You know, I just fly under the radar.
“And I think I gotta look at the positive side and [this] really takes the pressure off me because heading into this I was not in good place.”
In terms of nerves? “Yeah, So I couldn’t really sleep last night.”
Would the battle of Brisbane motivate her? “I think anything and everything motivates me and I don’t think one swim really defines me.”
Close to tears throughout the interview, she broke down as she walked away and was comforted by coach Boxall.
Meanwhile, the world record relay pace is not only on notice: if records had feelings, this one would surely sense the standard is going to be fried to a crisp.
Titmus Leads The Fastest Domestic 200m freestyle Race In History
Here’s how it boiled:
26.64 55.13 (28.49) 1:23.95 (28.82) 1:52.23 (28.28) Titmus WR
26.59 55.33 (28.74) 1:24.11 (28.78) 1:52.48 (28.37) O’Callaghan (also inside her own ex-WR)
27.31 56.67 (29.36) 1:26.29 (29.62) 1:55.57 (29.28) Pallister
27.24 56.81 (29.57) 1:26.51 (29.70) 1:55.74 (29.23) Throssell
26.24 55.70 (29.46). 1:26.32 (30.62) 1:56.22 (29.90) Shayna Jack
27.28 56.93 (29.65) 1:27.08 (30.15) 1:56.22 (29.14) Jamie Perkins
27.24 57.15 (29.91) 1:27.22 (30.07) 1:56.77 (29.55) Brittany Castelluzzo
26.72 56.03 (29.31) 1:26.69 (30.66) 1:56.93 (30.24) Meg Harris
Brisbane Results in full / Event Page
There’s another link with Munich 1972: before O’Callaghan and Titmus, you had to travel back to this Games to find the last Australian to own the 200m free world record: Shane Gould, whose 2:03.56 for one of her three golds in world records and five solo-event medals, the latter a feat that remains a woman’s record to this day.
This would be a great day to have had the great Gould on the commentary but perhaps TV bosses forgot to ask…
200m Free – World-Record Progression:
How Dolphins Dominate The All-Time Rankings
| 1 | 1:52.23 | Ariarne Titmus | AUS | 2024 Australian Trials | Brisbane | 12/06/2024 |
| 2 | 1:52.48 | Mollie O’Callaghan | AUS | 2024 Australian Trials | Brisbane | 12/06/2024 |
| 3 | 1:52.85 | O’Callaghan | AUS | World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023 | Fukuoka | 26/07/2023 |
| 4 | 1:52.98 | Federica Pellegrini | ITA | 13th FINA World Championships 2009 | Rome | 29/07/2009 |
| 5 | 1:53.01 | Titmus | AUS | World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023 | Fukuoka | 26/07/2023 |
| 6 | 1:53.09 | Titmus | AUS | Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Trials 2021 | Adelaide | 14/06/2021 |
| 7 | 1:53.31 | Titmus | AUS | Australian National Championships (50m) | Adelaide | 20/05/2022 |
| 8 | 1:53.50 | Titmus | AUS | Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 | Tokyo | 28/07/2021 |
| 9 | 1:53.57 | O’Callaghan | AUS | Australian National Championships (50m) | Gold Coast | 20/04/2024 |
| 10 | 1:53.61 | Allison Schmitt | USA | Olympic Games London 2012 | London | 31/07/2012 |
| 11 | 1:53.65 | Summer McIntosh | CAN | World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023 | Fukuoka | 26/07/2023 |
| 12 | 1:53.66 | O’Callaghan | AUS | World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023 | Fukuoka | 27/07/2023 |
More to follow soon