Freestyle queen Ariarne Titmus delivered an ominous message to her rivals at the Australian Olympic trials on Monday night, swimming the second fastest women’s 400m freestyle in history to qualify for the Paris Games.
Titmus was ahead of her own world record mark until the dying metres, finishing in 3.55.44 – just six one-hundredths of a second off the record. The two-time Olympic gold medallist is the only woman to have broken the 3 minute 56 second barrier, but faces stiff competition in Paris from Canada’s Summer McIntosh and American swim great Katie Ledecky.
