200 m freestyle, women

What to remember

Ariarne Titmus did not need the Olympics for this one: she swam the 200 m freestyle in 1 min 52.23 s at the Australian Olympic Trials in Brisbane on June 12, 2024. The time was set in a long course pool and ratified by World Aquatics, the body that validates swimming world records.

Born in Launceston, Titmus built her career on middle-distance freestyle. At the Tokyo 2020 Games she won both the 200 m and the 400 m freestyle, and at the 2024 Olympics she won the 400 m again, along with the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. With the Australian team she also broke the world record in that relay in 2022. In 2019 and 2020 she raced for the Cali Condors in the International Swimming League.

The men's 200 m freestyle has a long Olympic past: it was first held in 1900, then dropped from the programme before returning in 1968, the year the women's race was introduced. The event has been part of the World Aquatics Championships since 1973. In the long course pool, the men's record belongs to Germany's Paul Biedermann.