GOLD COAST -- Ariarne Titmus fired a warning shot to her two major Olympic 400m rivals, Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky, posting an impressive sub four-minute time in the eight-lap race at the Australian Open Championships.
The women's 400m freestyle race has belonged to Titmus for the past half decade, the Tasmanian unbeaten in competitive swims at the distance since 2019.
Titmus was challenged for 250m by Sydney's Lani Pallister in Friday's final but was able to surge clear in the back end of the race to stop the clock at 3:59.13. It's the quickest time posted in the event by anyone in 2024 and, as training begins to ramp up eight weeks out from the Australian trials, has Titmus in prime position to defend her crown in Paris later this year.
"I think it was a bit of a long time coming," said Titmus after her win. "Maybe I'm feeling my age. I'm really happy with that time and first [sub four-minute time] in season. It's looking good.
"I've got a lot of confidence from the work I've done in training, but it's another thing to put it together when you race. Sometimes you can put together a lot of great work and it doesn't translate. So, it's good to see it's happening."
Also on night three at the Championships, Cameron McEvoy reigned supreme in the men's 50m freestyle. His one-lap dash was timed 21.93s, edging out 100m Olympic champion, Kyle Chalmers, who finished second and remains a realistic chance of qualifying for the event in Paris.
For the second time this meet, Elijah Winnington prevailed over long distance star Sam Short. Winnington took the honours Wednesday in the men's 400m and backed it up in the 800m, getting the better of Short in a see-sawing race that had much of the Gold Coast crowd on its feet down the stretch.
"I knew I was about a second in front at the 400m mark, and that was always the plan, to go for it," said Winnington. "From about six to 700, Sam really put on a move and I was thinking 'if he keeps going I'm done here'. I was hurting so bad.
"But I came off the 700m wall and I just worked my time a little bit more and I gained on him and I saw he had lost that momentum. From there I knew I could come home in the last 50. I came into that with no expectations, but I'm really happy with that swim tonight."
The men's 100m butterfly was taken out by Matthew Temple in 50.80s, a time 0.01s quicker than the swim that propelled him to fourth in the event at last year's World Championships in Fukuoka.
Earlier in the program, Jenna Strauch showed why she's once again the nation's best Olympic hope in the women's 200m breaststroke. The 27-year-old from Bendigo stopped the clock at 2:23.33 to take out the race and complete the 50m, 100m, and 200m trifecta in the discipline.
Victorian teenager William Petric secured his first Australian Open title by taking out the men's 200m individual medley in a time of 1:58.43.