Ariarne Titmus missed breaking her own 400m freestyle world record by just 0.06 seconds to book her place in Paris 2024 at the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials in Brisbane.
The reigning Olympic champion swam 3:55.44, comfortably the fastest time in the world this year, beating rival Summer McIntosh’s 3:59.06 from the Canadian swim trials last month.
“After this morning, I thought there was a chance [of breaking the record],” Titmus said.
“The goal isn’t to swim my best here, the goal is to book a ticket [to the Olympics], so I’m excited to see what I can do in Paris.
Titmus was under world record pace by as much as three-quarters of a second at one stage, only missing out on breaking the record in the final couple of metres.
“I haven’t seen my splits but if I’m that far under, I think that gives me confidence that I took it out and I was quite fearless,” Titmus said.
“At the end of the day, the trials are a bit of a free shot for me, I don’t have to worry about getting under a qualifying time, so if I stuff up, I don’t have to worry about being on the team.
“So it’s about trying new things and to win, you always have to try new things. You can’t just expect to do the same thing and keep winning.”
She will be joined in the Paris Games by Lani Pallister, who made her first Olympic team.
Pallister was very emotional after seeing her time, rushing over to hug her mother, Janelle Elford, who swam at the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Fellow Olympic gold medallist from Tokyo Kaylee McKeown also booked her place with a scintillating swim in the 200m medley.
McKeown set a new Commonwealth Record of 2:06.63 to book her spot in the first of five individual events she is swimming at these championships.
She will be joined by 19-year-old Ella Ramsay, who also beat the qualifying time to book her spot.
