MELBOURNE – Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus said teenage Canadian rival Summer McIntosh is yet to prove herself under pressure, as the pair get ready for a blockbuster showdown at swimming’s world championships in July.

The 22-year-old Australian, who stunned American great Katie Ledecky to win the 200m and 400m freestyle double at the Tokyo Olympics, had her 400m world record snatched away by 16-year-old McIntosh in March.

McIntosh’s stunning 3min 56.08sec swim at the Canadian trials smashed the previous mark of 3:56.40, set by Titmus in 2022 when she shattered Ledecky’s six-year-old record of 3:56.46 at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Titmus won the event at the 2019 world championships in Gwangju but skipped the 2022 edition in Budapest which Ledecky won ahead of runner-up McIntosh.

All three are set to suit up for one of the most anticipated races of the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Titmus, who on Tuesday easily qualified at the Australian trials in 3:58.47 – the year’s second-fastest time behind McIntosh – insisted that the youngster still had plenty to prove.

“On paper I’d say I’m still Olympic champ going in,” she said in Melbourne. “I feel like Katie, Summer and I are quite even going in, to be honest.

“But I feel like with the experience that Katie has had, and with what I have had, we have had more experience than Summer racing with the pressure.

“I feel like Summer hasn’t really had that experience yet, racing on the international stage with the big pressure, so it’ll be interesting to see how she goes.”

Titmus, who is also set to swim the 200m and 800m free in Japan, warned that seeing her world record broken had given her only more motivation.

“World records are obviously there to be broken. But when you do break one, you naively think they might last forever,” she said. “So when it did get broken, it was a bit of a bee sting, like ‘Oh, OK the world of swimming is moving’.

“So it does kind of add that little bit of extra motivation because everyone’s always getting faster.”

Defending her crown at the 2024 Paris Olympics is Titmus’ ultimate goal, after which she will consider her future. “I plan to continue swimming, but I can’t think beyond (Paris). It’s too overwhelming,” she said.

She also admitted she had spoken to her coach Dean Boxall in a hint retirement might be on her mind. “I don’t know what I’m going to do after Paris, you never know. It’s certainly not a love thing or a body thing. If I went to Paris and won again, certainly (there might be) a motivational factor.

“It becomes harder to keep training at the same level when you have essentially achieved everything you wanted to achieve.”

On Tuesday, fellow Australian superstars Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown also booked their spots for the July 14-30 world championships.

Seven-time Tokyo Olympic medallist McKeon touched first in the 100m butterfly in 56.74 seconds, ahead of Brianna Throssell.

She will also compete in the 50m fly and the 50m and 100m free but has opted out of the 200m free.

“I was hoping for a bit quicker, but it was obviously just about making the team,” said McKeon. “This year is just another stepping stone to Paris (Olympics).”

The versatile McKeown cruised to victory in the 200m individual medley, hitting the wall in an impressive 2:07.60 – the second fastest in 2023 behind McIntosh.

The Olympic 100m and 200m backstroke champion and dual world-record holder touched well clear of Jenna Forrester, who also qualified.

“Really nice relief to gain a qualification on the first night of racing. Always good to blow out those cobwebs on the first race,” she said. AFP, REUTERS