From a life tracing the black line three metres below the water’s surface, to one marked by shades of grey, Ariarne Titmus is still adapting. Now 26, and two years removed from her final competitive event, she recognises her excellence as a swimmer only partly prepared her for what came next. I was achieve it, or fail.
And I guess that’s not a great way to be in life.” The challenges of the present are more nuanced than times and tumble-turns. Titmus is pursuing a career in media while building a new life in Melbourne with her fiance Mac Powell, after becoming engaged last month. This week she is on a tour to promote the release of her memoir, Relentless, co-written with the former journalist Phil Lutton.
Titmus was dubbed “Arnie” as a play on her name, but it also reflected a ruthless, almost robotic approach to competition akin to the Terminator. Reflecting on her young life, however, she is open and thoughtful, and very much aware of her mortality. She describes two cysts removed from her right ovary – “made up of cartilage and … my colour hair, like it had been pulled out of a hairbrush” – with unvarnished honesty.
The implications for her fertility due to these “monstrous-looking things” is one part of her life that is no longer simply win or lose. Her book details how she moved to Brisbane as a teenager to further her career, and came under the tutelage of Dean Boxall. The flamboyant coach features heavily in the book – 229 times his name is mentioned in 304 pages – and she described their relationship as “intense, emotional, joyous, trying at times and increasingly complex”.
The tome is scattered with examples of Boxall’s motivational psychology, including once when he made a song and dance about Summer McIntosh bettering the 400m world record of Titmus. Ultimately, she felt the tactic – and Boxall’s approach generally – did get the best out of her in her long-running rivalry with American Katie Ledecky. And in order to win, we had to take down the greatest ever, so it was quite an unusual challenge.
The trust I had in him meant that whatever direction we had to take, I believed it was the right way.” Titmus says while other young swimmers need compliments and encouragement, she was tuned to another wavelength. But I knew that it was all for a bigger cause, and that’s the way that we had to do it. And I wouldn’t change a thing.” The pair are still close.
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