Titmus Says She’s ‘Ready To Go’ For Women’s 400 Free In Fukuoka

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book

One of the most highly-anticipated races of this year’s World Championships is the women’s 400m freestyle.

We’ll see the young gun and reigning World Record holder Summer McIntosh of Canada battle against Aussie former World Record holder Ariarne Titmus and former World Record holder Katie Ledecky of the United States.

One of our ‘five biggest storylines of Fukuoka’, this women’s 400m freestyle will see Ledecky and Titmus go head-to-head once again in the event in which Titmus overtook Ledecky to become the first woman ever to beat the American in an elite international competition. That storied accomplishment was achieved at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Korea.

“2019 was a great stepping stone for me. It’s where I had one of my major breakthroughs,” Titmus remembers of her historic swim which brought her gold.

Heading into Fukuoka, Titmus says she’s ready to go, having reprioritized swimming into her life over the past several months.

“I’m really happy with my prep the past few months, I feel like I’ve really kicked it up into gear. I feel like I’ve done things in training I’ve never really done before.”

Titmus will need all the fuel she can muster to fend off McIntosh, the 16-year-old phenom who clocked a new 400 free WR mark of 3:56.08 at the Canadian World Championship Trials this past March.

“I feel like I’m going into Worlds with a lot of confidence. I had a lot going on in my personal life which I think was overriding my swimming. I’ve realigned my focus,” Titmus said at the Aussie pre-Worlds training camp.

Titmus followed up her 2019 gold medal by taking the 400m free gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, which were postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The now-22-year-old bypassed the 2022 World Championships to focus on last year’s Commonwealth Games where the Dean Boxall-trained star topped the 400m free podium in Birmingham, beating McIntosh in the process.

The trio of Titmus, Ledecky and McIntosh are separated by just over 2 and a half seconds entering Fukuoka. McIntosh leads the world with her WR-setting result of 3:56.08 while Titmus is ranked #2 with her time of 3:58.47 and Ledecky 3rd with her season-best of 3:58.84. The trio represents the sole swimmers to have delved under the 4:00 barrier in the event thus far this season.