After her brilliance in Tokyo,expectation now weighs heavily on the 21-year-old,as it has been for Ledecky for so long. Whenever she races,people expect world records to either be broken or threatened within an inch of their existence.
She wasn’t close to her own mark (3:56.40) this time but 3:58.06 was a mighty swim just a day after her 800m victory. It represented the fourth fastest 400m of her career and seventh-fastest of all time,with that list being dominated by Titmus and Ledecky.
But that won’t be the case for long because another name beckons. Summer McIntosh,the 15-year-old Canadian,refused to go away and produced the second sub-four minute swim of her career to take silver in 3:59.32,with Australia’s Kiah Melverton winning bronze.
Titmus turned up the heat on McIntosh in the middle hundreds and was able to earn a body-length break,but no more. McIntosh has so much improvement to come and Titmus and coach Dean Boxall not only recognise the threat but welcome it.
The run towards Paris and their clash at the next Olympics will be mesmerising. For now,Titmus is still the middle-distance titan and more than content with her week of work.
“I’m really happy. This meet was more about coming here and having fun and racing. I’m happy to get the job done,she (McIntosh) pushed me the whole way,I knew she would be there,” Titmus said.