Mollie O’Callaghan Delivers The “The Wow” Factor in Fukuoka, With Ariarne Titmus Gracious in Defeat
Mollie O’Callaghan has woken up this morning ready to take on the world again as she prepares to defend her 100m freestyle title in Fukuoka after swimming the race of her life against all the odds in last night’s epic 200m freestyle final.
She blew way the Olympic champion and her training partner in Ariarne Titmus – something no one expected – even Mollie herself – despite coach Dean Boxall’s secret new race strategies that resulted in a new world record of 1:52.85 – beating a record that had lasted 14 years.
And Mollie’s take on the greatest swim of her life, as she grapples with her new-found fame?
“I just wanted to have fun and enjoy it,” said O’Callaghan, who spoke of the influence of her coach with the rock star looks, Dean Boxall at the Brisbane-based St Peters Western Lutheran College program in the leafy suburb of Indooroopilly.
“To try my best and try some new race plans…follow Dean’s race plans…and to come out with a world record was really unexpected for me.
“Obviously Dean is an amazing coach who trains me for this, and I can’t share any of his secrets. But just following him and communicating really led to this moment.
“I’m thankful to have him as a coach and there was a whole support team around it (as well) who really helped me with the whole new strategy.
“To really enhance my training and performance and to get the best out of it…”
And her reaction when she turned and saw the scoreboard?
“I looked and thought was that me?” said Mollie.
“I couldn’t really explain the moment, there was tears, there was happiness and mixed emotions and I’m just so proud of myself to do that and such an unexpected moment.”
And then there was the graceful silver medallist?
“To be honest, I wanted to win that,” said Titmus, who had thrilled the crowd with her world record swim in the 400m freestyle “Race of the Century” on the opening night and who fired off her own pb of 1:53.01.
“I thought I had a great swim in me…and it was a great swim and a personal best but Mollie swam exceptionally well tonight and she deserves the gold,” said Titmus.
“(For me) not to win It’s great to have someone else from Australia on top of the podium – 1-2 for our country, we’re having a great meet here and I’m, just feel blessed that I get to contribute to the success of the team.
“We do have different training; she trains for the 100 and I train for the 400 so for us to meet in the middle it’s exciting but it’s good to see her on the rise; she’s young and it’s good to have this competitiveness which means we’ll be swimming faster and faster.”
Titmus, who along with Madi Wilson and Kiah Melverton set a new world record in the 4x200m freestyle at last year’s Commonwealth Games, was asked about the relay?
“That’s super exciting to have two of us that fast and we’ll have two (fresh) girls to swim in the morning,” said Titmus.
THIS IS A story of two Brisbane girls training side-by-side in the 2032 Olympic city that has produced more Olympic and world champions than any other swimming region in the world – the story of two world champions and two world record holders.
The toast of a crazy sports mad country that is gripped with Women’s World Cup Soccer fever and their beloved National team the Matildas who play in Brisbane tonight and a cricket team that will play the old foe England in the final of what has been a hostile Ashes battle both on and of the pitch.
And then the fanfare around One Year To Go to the Paris Olympics, and “Mollie O and Arnie” put on a show stopping showdown for the ages in the Marine Messe Fukuoka.
A race that had swimming greats Giaan Rooney, the last Australian woman to win the world title over 200m and it was here in Fukuoka in 2001, and the man who stopped the world with six gold at that meet, Ian Thorpe, both gushing in amazement.
“Wow…and wow…!!” was Rooney’s immediate reaction as she and Thorpe reached for the right words in the thick of the action as they analysed the race on Australia’s Olympic Network, Channel 9.
“Wow what a swim. I honestly thought that Arnie was the only one capable of going under 1:53 tonight,” admitted Rooney.
“I can honestly say I didn’t think Mollie had that in her at this stage (of her career) so that was just extraordinary.
“Talk about exciting swimming on this program….I did not think we would see someone swim over the top of Arnie…Mollie was amazing.”
And the final words from Thorpe, a man who wrote and rewrote his own world records over a dozen times in a stellar career over 200, 400 and 800m freestyle.
“We have two swimmers in Australia (with) expectations of going under 1:53 which is somewhere where only one other person has been,” said Thorpe on Australia’s Wide World Of Sports coverage.
“We have just seen a world record for Mollie O’Callaghan and we should be so proud of her and there’s also Ariarne and where can they take this event, they are racing against each other in training and they come onto the world stage and Mollie O’Callaghan blew it away ..congratulations!”
Paris awaits…..