Ariarne Titmus shatters women’s 200m freestyle world record

Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus smashed the women’s 200m freestyle world record at the Australian Olympic trials in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Titmus clocked 1:52.23, smashing compatriot Mollie O’Callaghan’s previous mark of 1:52.85 from last year’s World Championships in Fukuoka.

With this, the 23-year-old will enter her second event at the Paris Olympics after she threatened her own 400 metres freestyle world record in the finals of the trials.

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Though not fully tapered, the Olympic champion won the final in three minutes and 55.44 seconds, 0.06 seconds off her best from last year’s world championships in Fukuoka — and the second fastest time in history.

It left Summer McIntosh’s year-best mark of 3:59.06 far behind, while challenging American great Katie Ledecky, the woman Titmus beat for gold in a thriller at Tokyo, to produce an answer at the U.S. trials starting on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Titmus won her heat in one minute and 55.50 seconds at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, with O’Callaghan claiming hers in 1:55.68.

“People think that it’s probably just going to be Mollie and I out the front but I think the entire field is going to be competitive because it’s a very high chance that’s a gold medal possibility with that relay team,” Titmus, told Australian media.