One of the shocking pieces of news to emerge from the swimming circuit this year was the retirement of two-time Olympian Ariarne Titmus. The Australian swimmer took a long hiatus from the sport after the Paris Olympics last year before bidding goodbye to the sport last month.
In her last tournament in Paris, Titmus concluded with two gold and two silver medals, including an individual gold in the 400m freestyle, to cap off a decorated career at the age of 25, as she focuses on the larger perspectives of her life.
The Primary Ground Behind Ariarne Titmus’ Retirement From Swimming
The reason behind Titmus’s retirement from swimming isn’t due to her fitness or mental pressure, like many other athletes in the current era. Still, it was a conscious decision to prioritize her family and her partner, Mack, whom she met the previous year.
In an interview, Titmus shared how her career affected her family time over the years and the hardships of being a professional athlete.
“I’ve lived my life not caring that I never got to spend, birthdays with all my friends or never having to go to any family events because I got to be in bed for training, or not really enjoying my time with family over Christmas, or Easter because I am focused on training,” she said.
Additionally, the Australian also mentioned how her partner Mack impacted her decision to step away from swimming, stating, “I also met my partner right after the Olympics, so I wasn’t willing to go back to the life that I always had, where I made the decision to put my family second. Swimming has always been number one and they have understood that, you have to be quite a selfish person to be an athlete.”
Further in the conversation, Titmus claimed that at this point, several other aspects have taken on more importance than swimming, and she is pretty excited to experience this chapter of her life. The Australian swimmer recently marked one year of her first date with partner Mack at the Stakes Day last year.
Titmus Reminisces About Moments From the Last Race of Her Swimming Career
With her shocking retirement announcement, the 800m freestyle finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics last year marked her previous professional race. The Australian bagged a silver medal in the race, finishing behind the USA’s Katie Ledecky.
Titmus recently shared an interesting moment from the meeting in a recent interview.
She said, “Something really strange actually happened, whenever I would go to a medal ceremony, I would just take my medal off straight away but after the 800m I actually stood at the top of the pool and took a video of the entire atmosphere to soak it all in. It is really cool that was my last race.”
This Olympic silver medal was Titmus’ second runner-up finish in the 800m freestyle event at the Tokyo event, where Ledecky defeated her.
