Launceston-born Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus has smashed a world record by 0.7 seconds at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan tonight.
Titmus has reclaimed the world record in the women’s 400 metres freestyle in Fukuoka, winning gold on night one of the swimming program with a time of 3:55.38 seconds.
Katie Ledecky of the United States was second, more than three seconds behind Titmus with a time of 3:58.73.
New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather was third at 3:59.59, while 16-year-old McIntosh — who previously held the world record with a time of 3:56.08 — was fourth in 3:59.94.
“I was just really excited for this race,” Titmus told Nine.
“I’ve put in a lot of work the last six weeks and I took a lot away from [the national] trials. I swam the way I wanted to.”
“I knew I had enough time to turn that around and I came in tonight and just tried to be fearless and race again, and it paid off.”
The victory came just 30 minutes after Australian teammate Sam Short won the men’s 400m freestyle final.
