Ariarne Titmus: Olympic swimming champion announces immediate retirement

Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus has announced her immediate retirement from competitive swimming.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist, dubbed the Terminator after her breakthrough Olympic performance at the Tokyo Olympics, revealed the surprise move in an Instagram post on Thursday morning, writing that, at 25, the time “feels right to step away from swimming”.

In the post dedicated to “seven year old Ariarne”, the champion reflected on her long and storied career.

“Today you retire from competitive swimming. 18 years you spent in the pool competing. 10 of those representing your country. You went to two Olympic Games and ever better, you won!!!” she wrote.“The dreams you had.. they all came true. The friends you’ve made.. they’re for life. You achieved more than you ever thought you were capable of and you should be so proud.”

She said she expected to return to swimming following a break after the Olympics, but changed her mind.

“It’s a tough one but one that I’m really happy with,” she said in the Instagram post.

“I’ve always loved swimming, it’s been my passion since I was a, a little girl, but I guess I’ve taken this time away from the sport and realised some things in my life that have always been important to me are just a little bit more important to me now than swimming and that’s OK, but yeah, here we are.”

The announcement has been met with a flood of support from fellow swimmers, including Susie O’Neill and Shayna Jack who said her swimming career “was only one chapter in such an incredible journey”.

Kyle Chalmers wrote, “I’m so proud of you! You are a legend in and out of the pool. You’ve inspired me so much over the years and I am honoured to call you my friend!! All the best with the next chapter of life.”

Titmus, who grew up in Tasmania, will retire as one of the greatest distance swimmers of all time.

Her last competitive meet was at the Paris Olympics last year, where she achieved an historic third individual Olympic gold medal, winning the 400m freestyle in the race dubbed “the race of the century”.

That win made Titmus the first Australian athlete since Dawn Fraser in 1964, to win back-to-back gold medals in the same event.

Before the Paris Games, Titmus underwent surgery to remove an ovarian tumour.

Titmus steps away from the sport as the current 200m world record holder, having won a staggering haul of 33 international medals including eight Olympic medals (four gold, three silver and one bronze) and four world titles.

With AAP