Mollie O’Callaghan has just missed out on reclaiming her 200 metres freestyle world record, unable to keep pace with former teammate Ariarne Titmus’s rapid closing speed.
O’Callaghan won the 200m at the Australian Swimming Trials in Sydney in 1:52.86 to book her ticket to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and remain second only to Titmus in the distance.
After 200m golds at the 2024 Olympics and 2025 world championships, O’Callaghan will be chasing her first Commonwealth title in the distance in Glasgow next month, but has already nabbed her own slice of history.
“[I’m] trying to reach the impossible for women and being able to do 1:52 three times, the only woman to ever do that, is very promising,” she said.
“It’s just about getting comfortable and knowing when to make that shift and what parts I need to move on.”
Having broken Federica Pellegrini’s 2009 supersuit era record as a 19-year-old at the world championships in 2023, O’Callaghan bettered that time of 1:52.85 at the Olympic trials the following year.
Unfortunately, in that same race in Brisbane, Titmus pipped her with a 1:52.23 to set a new world’s best mark.
O’Callaghan had the last laugh in their 200m rivalry when she beat Titmus to gold at the Paris Games, but the world record remains out of reach for now, with O’Callaghan saying she does not need Australia’s former golden girl in the pool at training or meets to spur her on.
“If I’m being completely honest I motivate myself at the end of the day,” said the 22-year-old, who holds the short-course 200m world record.
“There’s so many people that come and go and there’s so many other athletes who push me … so yes, people leave their legacy, but also it’s about yourself and motivation.”
With the retired Titmus watching on poolside on Wednesday night, O’Callaghan powered through the first half of the 200m final and was 0.81 of a second below a record split after 100m.
She was still more than half a second ahead of the 150m split before the red line representing Titmus stormed home as she did so often during her career.
O’Callaghan admitted she was still learning the race, saying she does not know why she went out so hard.
“I think the nerves, that’s a big thing. I’ll talk to Dean [coach Dean Boxall], he’ll tell me, ‘Oh, you’re an idiot or something for doing something,'” she said.
“I live and I learn, and this is just another thing off the list. Next time I do it, hopefully I master it. I might make a mistake again, but 1:52s not a mistake.”
O’Callaghan will be joined in the 200m by Titmus’s replacement in the distance events, Lani Pallister.
Lani Pallister smashed her personal best. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)
Having already coasted to victory in the 400m on night one, Pallister swam a 1:53.65 to finish second, bettering her personal best by more than a second.
Pallister has joined O’Callaghan at the St Peters club in Brisbane and said she was in awe of her teammate.
“I’ve seen her do some insane things at training,” Pallister told Channel Nine.
“It’s a really exciting summer moving forward. I’m really proud of Mollie and I know she’s got more in the tank.
“She definitely has a lot more speed than I have. I’m having a lot of fun and I’m confident. It’s been a really good week.”
Pallister said she was using the 200m to build her opening speed for the longer events, with the 800m and 1,500m still to come on Thursday and Saturday.
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