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PARIS — This is perhaps the most anticipated swimming final of the Paris Games, and no one will have to wait long to see it.
The women’s 400m freestyle will be held on Saturday, with heats in the morning and the final in the evening, the first day of the Olympic swimming program, and will feature a field that includes three women who hold the world record in the event.
Ariarne Titmuss, 23, of Australia, is the defending Olympic gold medalist in the event and is the favorite to win Saturday’s meet. Katie Ledecky, 27, of the United States, won gold in the 400m freestyle at the last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Also competing is 17-year-old Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh, who set the world record in the event in 2023 but Titmuss broke it.
“They’re great athletes and I’ve had the opportunity to race against them a few times over the last few years, especially when I was in the U.S. over the summer and training there,” Ledecky said Wednesday. “It’s always fun to race against the best.”
“Those two guys have kept me at a higher level. I know I have to do my best and I think they know they have to do their best. I think that’s what you want in an Olympic race.”
Ledecky said she thinks her chances are good in the tournament, but understands there are other strong competitors beyond the top three stars. For example, 20-year-old New Zealander Erica Fairweather is definitely looking to be a disruptor in the tournament. Fairweather beat McIntosh to win the bronze medal at the 2023 world championships, finishing behind Titmus and Ledecky.
The world championship final in Fukuoka, Japan, was billed as the race of the century, but the race was more of a disappointment because it wasn’t close. Titmuss won by three seconds to become the first woman to break 3 minutes 56 seconds in the event (and nearly broke that world record in the Australian qualifiers earlier this year).
With no second-place finisher, Ariarne Titmuss is gunning for gold in the women’s 400m freestyle at the 2023 World Championships. She will be the favorite to win on Saturday. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
McIntosh would be a breakout star in her second Olympics. At just 14 years old at the time of the Tokyo Games, she was Canada’s youngest Olympian. She placed fourth in the 400m freestyle and fourth in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Since then, she’s taken the sport by storm, winning four gold medals at world championships (in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley in 2022 and 2023), plus one silver and three bronze medals. The Sarasota, Florida, trainer became the first American to win in more than 13 years in February when she beat Ledecky in the 800 freestyle final, a time that (8:11.39) would have won her gold in Tokyo.
However, McIntosh will not be competing in the 800m freestyle at this Games. However, her schedule is packed. She will compete in the 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley. She is the world record holder in the 400m individual medley. She will be the favorite in that event and a favorite in the others. She will be up against Regan Smith of the United States in the 200m butterfly and Kate Douglas and Alex Walsh in the 200m individual medley. And, of course, she will play a key role in the relays for Canada. McIntosh will need to win a significant number of medals to truly make the Summer Olympics the Summer Olympics, which she certainly can do. But it’s still too much to ask of a teenager.
“You need pressure to achieve great things,” McIntosh’s coach, Brent Arcay, told CBC Sports earlier this year. “Great athletes understand that. Pressure can be unhealthy, but she’s surrounded by great people.”
“We can do something about this. You can’t become great without pressure and expectations.”
Meanwhile, Titmuss is the world record holder in the 200m freestyle and is the favorite to win the event. She won silver behind Ledecky in the 800m in Tokyo and will compete in the distance again this year. Titmuss will also be a key member of Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay team. Her gold medal win would be huge for Australia, who are looking to beat the USA in what has become a pretty entertaining international rivalry. Australia has almost twice as many gold medals as the USA at the 2023 World Championships (incidentally, American star Caleb Dressel did not compete in this event).
Top 10 fastest women’s 400m freestyle times
Rank Swimmer Nationality Time Year Event
1
Arianne Titmuss
Australia
3:55.38
2023
World Aquatics Championships
2
Arianne Titmuss
Australia
3:55.44
2024
Australian Olympic Qualifiers
3
Summer McIntosh
Canada
3:56.08
2023
Canadian Exams
Four
Arianne Titmuss
Australia
3:56.40
2022
Australian Championships
Five
Katie Ledecky
united states of america
3:56.46
2016
Rio Olympics
6
Arianne Titmuss
Australia
3:56.69
2021
Tokyo Olympics
7
Arianne Titmuss
Australia
3:56.90
2021
Australian Olympic Qualifiers
8
Katie Ledecky
united states of america
3:57.36
2021
Tokyo Olympics
9
Katie Ledecky
united states of america
3:57.94
2018
Indianapolis Pro Swim Series
Ten
Arianne Titmuss
Australia
3:58.06
2022
Commonwealth Games
Titmus said she has grown a lot as a person and as a swimmer since the Tokyo Games, where she won gold medals in both the 200m and 400m freestyle.
“To be honest with you, I think this is the best preparation I’ve ever had going into a swim meet,” Titmuss told reporters at Australia’s training camp in Chartres, France, “so more than anything I’m just excited to see what I can do.”
“That’s why I’m still swimming. I believe I still have the strength. So my goal in this meet is to give it my all and test my capabilities.”
Ledecky, a veteran in the field, shares the same view. Lately, she’s been reflecting a lot about her career and how she went from a wide-eyed 15-year-old girl in London to an elder stateswoman in the sport. She’s two gold medals away from tying the all-time record for a female Olympic athlete, set by gymnast Larisa Latynina, who won nine gold medals for the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. And here she will swim her two favorite events: the 800m freestyle and the 1,500m freestyle.
Still, Ledecky believes she can compete all the way to the 400 freestyle. That’s part of what makes Saturday’s race so fascinating: It features Ledecky, arguably the greatest female swimmer of all time, Titmus, her biggest rival for the past few years, and McIntosh, a teenager who might just be able to beat them both and win the Olympics. Let the Olympics begin.
At just 17 years old, Summer McIntosh is ready to compete in the big Olympic events. Her first competition in Paris will be the 400-meter freestyle on Saturday. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb/The Athletic; Photos of Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh: Quinn Rooney, Maddie Meyer and Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)