ZUMO Performance of the Week: Ariarne Titmus Smashes Australian, Commonwealth Records

ariarne-titmus-200-free-2018-australian-trials

Ariarne Titmus at the 2018 Australian Trials, Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia Ltd.

This week’s ZUMO Performance of the Week goes to Ariarne Titmus for her Australian and Commonwealth record in the 200 free at the 2019 Australian Swimming Championships.

The 18-year old had maybe her most impressive swim to date last week, putting up a 1:54.30 in the 200 free to smash the existing Australian, Commonwealth, and Australian All-Comers records. Titmus’ previous best of 1:54.85 from the 2018 Commonwealth Games was itself just .02 off of Emma McKeon’s old Australian record and just .04 off of Taylor Ruck’s Commonwealth record.

That makes Titmus the fifth fastest performer of all-time, and makes her the fastest in the world for 2019 by over a second:

All-Time Rankings:

Federica Pellegrini, ITA, 1:52.98 (2009)
Allison Schmitt, USA, 1:53.61 (2012)
Katie Ledecky, USA, 1:53.73 (2016)
Sarah Sjostrom, SWE, 1:54.08 (2016)
Ariarne Titmus, AUS, 1:54.30 (2019)
Taylor Ruck, CAN, 1:54.44 (2018)
Camille Muffat, FRA, 1:54.66 (2012)
Femke Heemskerk, NED, 1:54.68 (2015)

2019 World Rankings:

Ariarne Titmus, AUS, 1:54.30
Sarah Sjostrom, SWE, 1:55.44
Katie Ledecky, USA, 1:55.78
Emma McKeon, AUS, 1:56.00
Femke Heemskerk, NED, 1:56.48
Federica Pellegrini, ITA, 1:56.60
Qiu Yuhan, CHN, 1:56.79
Madison Wilson, AUS, 1:56.90

Ariarne Titmus sets an Australian record in the 200m Freestyle!@SwimmingAUS | #CrownTheChamps pic.twitter.com/mALIBIZ7mR

— 7Sport (@7Sport) April 9, 2019

This is just one more step forward in what has been an incredible last year for the Australian teenager, who also equaled her own Australian record in the 400 free at this meet with another sub-4:00 swim.

However, what is truly impressive here is that this was not even the qualifying meet for Australia heading into the 2019 World Championships. The Aussies will be holding their trials in June, meaning we still haven’t seen Titmus yet at her peak in this event.

Last summer, the teenager chose to forgo the 200 free at the 2018 Pan Pacs in favor of the 400 and 800 frees, where she finished in the second in both to Katie Ledecky while setting new Australian records. And while we’ll wait to see what the teenager’s event schedule looks like this summer, it’s safe to say the 200 should more than likely be a part of it.

Congratulations to Ariarne Titmus on earning ZUMO’s Performance of the Week!

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