“I can’t believe it. I’ve lost my voice,” said Titmus’s father Steve. “Unbelievable. Just quite extraordinary. She’s done it. She’s actually done it.”
Her mother Robyn added: “She’s just focused, determined, gritty, gutsy.”
The pair had a fierce rivalry before this tantalising duel, stemming from Titmus’s brilliant victory in the 400m freestyle over Ledecky at the 2019 World Championships.
Titmus had the faster time this year but Ledecky is one of the greatest swimmers the sport has seen, making the Australian’s victory even more significant.
Meanwhile, Emma McKeon claimed a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly after Canada’s Margaret MacNeil beat a strong field from lane seven.
McKeon qualified third fastest for the final and her heat swim of 55.82 on Saturday evening was only 0.34 outside Sarah Sjoestroem’s world record.
China’s Yufei Zhang was the favourite heading into the race which also included reigning Olympic champion Sjoestroem.
McKeon turned fourth at the 50m mark and despite a fast finish and a personal best time of 55.72, she touched the wall in third place, behind MacNeil (55.59) and Zhang (55.64).
Emma McKeon celebrates her bronze medal.Credit:Getty Images
McKeon broke the Australian record but it wasn’t enough for victory. She finished ahead of American Torri Huske by 0.01.
“I am pretty pleased,” McKeon said. “I will be on the Olympic podium, so you can’t be more happy. I was just focusing on my race. I could see the American girl [Huske] on the other side after me and I realised we were 0.01 off third and fourth to get my hand on the wall before her.”
MacNeil, the 2019 world champion in the 100m butterfly, was the sixth-ranked qualifier for the race and, after turning in seventh place, stormed home to win her first Olympic gold medal.
Sjoestroem fractured her elbow in February after slipping and falling on ice in Stockholm. She required surgery. Her recovery was supposed to be three months and in June Sjoestroem admitted she was “doubtful” of racing in this event.
To finish seventh in a time of 56.91 was an achievement in itself.
The medal was McKeon’s second of the Games – putting her on track for an ambitious haul of seven medals if all things go to plan.
She still has the 50m and 100m freestyle events remaining, plus three more relays – 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley and mixed 4x100m medley relay.
Meanwhile, Thomas Neill has missed a place in the men’s 200m freestyle final by 0.03s.
Neill, 19, clocked 1:45.81 in the first semi-final to finish fourth but won’t progress further after coming ninth overall.
“Obviously it’s gutting missing out by that small margin,” Neill said. “To get an Olympic semi-final, in my first Olympics, you can’t be too disappointed in that. I put together the race I wanted to put together. Obviously maybe a bit quicker would have been nice but at the end of the day it’s my PB in the Olympic semifinal. I can’t be unhappy.”
In more bad luck for the Australians, Chelsea Hodges finished ninth overall (1:06.60) after the 100m breaststroke semi-finals.
Hodges was 0.01 off a finals spot. South African Tatjana Schoenmaker (1:05.07) and American sensational Lilly King (1:05.40) were the fastest qualifiers for the final.
“I was hoping to go faster,” Hodges said. “But that’s swimming. That’s what it’s like.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to smh.com.au
