Ariarne Titmus on “Relentless,” Retiring, and Racing Katie Ledecky | Unfiltered Waters

Ariarne Titmus, the four time Olympic gold medalist from Australia and a two time Olympic champion in the 400 freestyle, joins Katie Hoff Anderson to explain why she walked away from the sport after Paris, what racing Katie Ledecky for almost a decade really felt like, and why she agreed to swim with sharks on TV when her first answer was a flat no.

Arnie walks through the year that led to her retirement. After Paris she took a 12 month break, feeling like she was running on fumes, and started living the life she had missed: Sunday night dinners with her family, being there for her friends, and thinking about what she wants from the next ten years. She talks about telling her coach Dean Boxall in early 2025 that she was not ready to come back in May, why she was never willing to return just to make up the numbers, and how the decision finally came down to whether more medals would make her life better.

The deeper thread is her mindset. Arnie believes she was born relentless, never worked with a sports psychologist, and describes the thought she took behind the blocks in every final: "So these girls have to beat me." She relives the 2019 World Championships 400 freestyle, the first time she beat Ledecky, from the commentary saying she would fade to the moment she got "a little sniff," and explains why she is grateful Ledecky was her rival rather than someone who took it personally.

She also opens up about Shark! on Nine, the series that had her swimming head on with a great hammerhead in the Bahamas despite a real phobia of sharks, and about Relentless, her memoir, which tells her story from Launceston, Tasmania to the top of the sport.

There is plenty of fun in here too: her search for a hobby after swimming, pottery full of holes, no hand eye coordination, and a partner who cleans up after she cooks.

She closes with the moment from Tokyo she will never forget, her roommates making her bed with paper plates and Freddo Frogs after the 400 final, and the one word she lives by. In her words, "I'm not like anyone else, and no one is like me." For anyone who has ever wondered what it takes to leave the sport on your own terms.

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GET ARNIE'S MEMOIR, RELENTLESS:
Amazon: amazon.com/dp/B0GY9P6FGQ
Allen & Unwin: allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Ariarne-Titmus-Relentless-9781761474132

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FOLLOW KATIE ON:
Instagram: instagram.com/kthoff7

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