Ariarne Titmus retires just as she swam – at the top of the sport and uniquely herself | Kieran Pender

Ariarne Titmus has always done things her own way.

So it was when she first blazed to glory in 2019 – a teenager unheralded outside Australia, upstaging American swim queen Katie Ledecky on the world stage. So it was in 2022 when, as reigning world and Olympic champion, Titmus decided to skip the world titles. “I’ll definitely be asleep,” she told me at the time – the championships were held in Budapest, and Titmus remained in Australia, not ever tuning in to the overnight broadcast. And in 2023 when the women’s 400m freestyle turned from “race of the century” to coronation and ultimately procession, as Titmus dominated rivals Ledecky and Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh at the world titles and again the 2024 Olympics.

And so it was on Thursday when, just 25, Titmus announced she was retiring from the sport. For a swimmer who has always been distinctly individual, always followed her own path, the decision should perhaps come as no surprise.

Following a bumper Paris Olympics for the Dolphins, a number of Australia’s swim stars indicated they would take a break from the sport. Since then, one by one the marquee names returned and commenced their journey towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics – the Dolphins were nearly back to full strength for the world titles in late July. But Titmus remained on the sidelines, in the commentary box rather than in the pool. Now we know why.

“I’ve always loved swimming,” Titmus said on Instagram, “but I guess I’ve taken this time away from the sport and realised some things in my life that have always been important to me are just a little bit more important to me now than swimming.”

Titmus’s decision ends a remarkable sporting career and leaves her as an all-time Australian sporting great. With four gold, three silver and one bronze medal to her name, she is among Australia’s most successful Olympians. Add four world titles and seven Commonwealth Games gold medals, and she has a deserved place alongside the very best in Australian swimming history, the likes of Ian Thorpe and Dawn Fraser.

Ariarne Titmus has not once lost a 400m freestyle final at a major meet despite the challenges from Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky. Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

Amid a golden era for Australian swimming – with record-breaking performances at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics – Titmus’s achievements came alongside other heroic feats: Kaylee McKeown’s backstroke supremacy, Mollie O’Callaghan’s sprint success, Emma McKeon’s remarkable versatility. Each should be celebrated in their own right, and in their own context.

But Titmus’s success was noteworthy for coming during a time of remarkable female middle-distance freestyle swimming. To become the queen of the eight-lap discipline, the Tasmanian had to dethrone Ledecky – one of the greatest swimmers of all-time. To remain the queen – as a two-time Olympic champion, two-time world champion – Titmus had to fend off a resurgent Ledecky and an emergent McIntosh, one of the most exciting young swimmers ever seen.

Yet Titmus remained unconquered. Indeed, since winning the world title as a teenager in Korea in 2019, Titmus has not once lost a 400m freestyle final at a major meet. Across six years of swimming, against a legend and a prodigy, that is quite the feat.

It was a remarkable rise, from a self-described “goofy Tassie girl,” born in Launceston, who took to the local swim club at seven years old after being inspired by the Dolphins at the 2008 Olympics. Titmus rose through the local, state and national ranks, before realising that training in her own lane at the Launceston local pool, following instructions from a faraway coach delivered by text message, could only take her so far. With support from her parents, Titmus and her family relocated to Queensland in 2015, to chase an Olympic dream.

Retiring at 25 and the peak of her sport is just another very Ariarne Titmus thing to do. Photograph: Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty Images

“I just thought, I really have no choice,” she later recalled. “Like, if I really want to make something of myself, I have no choice.” On Thursday, Titmus indicated that in retirement she wanted to help support aspiring athletes from regional Australia.

In Queensland, a young Titmus linked up with Dean Boxall – a coaching relationship, and friendship, that would help the Tasmanian blossom. When the teenager first joined Boxall’s program, she was 16 seconds away from Ledecky’s time in the 400m. Together, they closed that gap, Titmus ultimately breaking the American’s world record (earlier this year, Titmus’s latest world record was broken by McIntosh).

Ever since she first left Launceston to pursue her swimming career, Titmus has done things her own way. At the Tokyo Olympics, her first major test, she let rival Ledecky go out fast, only to reel her in by the last lap. It was gutsy, by her own admission, but it worked – a nail-biting finish that culminated in a spectacular triumph for young Titmus. In Paris, she adopted a different strategy: the Australian went out hard, led at every turn, and showed no sign of fading. It was a remarkably dominant performance.

Titmus will no doubt stamp her own distinctive mark on whatever follows in her life, and career. “But more than anything, I’m excited for what’s next,” she said on Thursday. Retiring at the top, as a two-time world and Olympic champion, only 25: just another distinctively Ariarne Titmus thing to do.