DADDY OF ALL GAMES FANS
Steve Titmus showed just what it means to be the dad of a Games star
IF you thought being an international athlete was tough, try being their parents.
Steve Titmus captured the hearts of the nation on swimming’s opening night with his frenzied cheering as daughter Ariarne went within a fingernail of winning the women’s 200m freestyle.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster he has been riding for years. The pre-dawn taxi ser- vice, the sleepless nights, the chewed off fingernails and uprooting the family from Tasmania to chase a dream.
Welcome to the highs and lows of life as a parent of one of swimming’s rising stars.
Mr Titmus said he rode a wave of emotion leading up to the epic final.
“I get really nervous before big races and you just ride every stroke,” he said.
“The night before was the opening ceremony and we didn’t get home until after midnight and then I barely slept, I was enormously nervous.”
He said the best way to handle the stress was just to let it all out.
“I’m a fairly extroverted person anyway, so I think if you’re going to cheer, you’ve got to have a full crack at it,” he said.
“I’ve had mates who saw it (the footage of his cheering) on TV and they said ‘that’s you’, it was just a very natural response and such a raw moment of emotion.”
It was also the relief that the move from Tasmania to Brisbane for his daughter’s swimming had led to what has been one of the Games’ most magic moments so far.
“Robyn (wife) and I gave up our careers in Tassie and put everything on the line,” he said.
“But if we hadn’t done that none of this would have happened. I think the things you regret are the things you didn’t do.
“We wouldn’t have seen this amazing race and Ariarne wouldn’t have been presented with a medal by the future king of England.”
After swimming a blistering PB in the 200m, Titmus is expected to go one better in her pet events of the 400m and 800m later in the program.
And you can expect her dad to cheer even louder.