Titmus dives in again for school swim team
SCHOOLGIRL swimming sensation Ariarne Titmus may not have the same high school routine as her peers, but she is still fiercely determined to represent her school at the state swimming carnival.
The 17-year-old from Tasmania is doing Year 12 over three years instead of one, to allow more time to focus on swimming. Despite doing only 14 classes a week, Titmus holds as much school spirit as her fellow students when it comes to representing St Peter’s Lutheran College, Brisbane.
The young swimmer made headlines at last weekend’s Commonwealth Games swimming trials in Queensland after becoming the first woman in 14 years to win the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle events.
She won the 400m freestyle in an Australian record time of 4 minutes 02.36 seconds, but last night she was back in the humble surroundings of the Queensland Girls’ Secondary Sports Association 2018 swimming carnival, held at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane’s east.
Not that you’d have known it from the attitude of a teen who is already gaining a reputation for always striving to push herself further.
At the trials you could see in the eyes of the Launceston youngster, in the moments after she touched the wall, that she expected better, wanted to go even faster. Then, in her next event, she did, knocking three seconds off her PB in the 800m freestyle final, just missing the Australian record.
And that attitude was once again on show yesterday, as she swam against a group of Brisbane school students.
“We want to win,” Titmus said.
“It’s kind of a high-pressure racing situation even though it is school swimming.
“It’s massive, coaches take it just as seriously [as the Com- monwealth Games trials]. It’s really important for the school to win this title so I’m excited.”
She said that since moving to Queensland from Tasmania three years ago juggling life between school and the pool had been made easier by attending the prestigious inner-west Brisbane school.
“To be at St Peter’s, where swimming is such a strong sport, there’s an amazing culture and it’s really great,” Titmus said.
“Swimming has been the main thing I’ve done for most of my life. I’ve done a bit of horseriding and running, but swimming was my love.”
Adding some trans-Tasman rivalry into the mix, the girl who came second to Titmus in i the 200m freestyle was young NZ Commonwealth Games representative Laticia Transom.
“I’ve grown up racing Ariarne and she’s just improving all the time,” Transom said.
“She’s really inspiring. She works really hard and I hope I get to that level one day.”